Out-of-the-box Sprout competitor could be a pair of powered speakers like KEF LSX ($1000) or KEF LS50W ($2000). More expensive, but it’s an all-in-one solution, so no separate speakers to buy.).
(Bluetooth, Ethernet, optical. No phono.)
I believe that lossy formats transfer data as codes in 32-bit words, and it is the responsibility of the decoder to resolve these into PCM of the desired bit depth and sample rate, which are thus not primary indicators of the resulting audio quality.
Kinda, but as powered speakers…you’re stuck with those speakers. People seem to like to try different and new speakers and those would not allow a person to do that like an integrated does.
tru dat