Tony...
naa.
No offence to any of the happy Pi users but I tried a good one (built in linear supply etc) and to me its a case of ‘not so much’.
Buy cheap pay twice?
Time to step up your digital mate to match the rest of your kit.
Dont need to oay a fortune either.
My recommendation:
Small but powerful computer running Roon server software.
Roon membership.
Roon interface running on your tablet - choose music from that not a laptop.
Cant recommend Roon highly enough as you know, need to get yer arse over here and I’ll give you a demo.
This setup is as close to a music ‘appliance’ as you’ll get.
Trust me, you dont want to be around when you need to mess about with Linux on a Pi, drive you Benny Bongo.
Do it once, do it right mate.
AC POWER
Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
AMPS
Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
SPEAKERS
Wharfedale Evo 4.4
DAC
PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
TURNTABLE
Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
PHONOSTAGE
Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
DIGITAL
OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
MUSIC PLAYBACK
Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
Ipad Roon Remote.
Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
SPEAKER CABLES
Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
INTERCONNECTS
All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables