Everything else being equal, should I expect better Spotify quality through wifi or USB?

Thanks, Dougmint for raising this question; I have the same one.

I've recently been experimenting with Tidal, and am connecting to my preamp via a fairly generic $25 bluetooth 'adapter' from Amazon. I'm guessing this contains a wifi receiver plus a DAC. The sound, while not bad is a bit plasticky, like Muzak.

I've been wondering if the weak link is the DAC or the fact that it's bluetooth (as opposed to a hard-wired connection). Could I improve the sound by getting a DAC that accepts a USB? or Coax? Or would it just depend on the DAC?

Gasbose

gasbose.  I am still a newbee, but I believe I would be correct to say that you cannot expect great performance from a $25 DAC from Amazon.  I just tried a Google Chromecast audio "puck" ($35) into my receiver via the analog output, and I was not impressed at all.

I just bought a used Cambridge Audio 2 channel amp, and am thinking of getting a Bluesound Node 2 for the streaming and DAC functions.  I listened to one at a store, and it was decent.  I also listened to a $4K Linn DAC, and at least for Spotify, could not really hear much difference when compared to the $500 Node 2.  I am going to try using some old Klipsch KG4 speakers I've had in storage for 10+ years.

What you deliver, by Ethernet, USB, Wi-Fi is just data. The question is how this data gets to DAC. My Wi-Fi receiver has analog and digital (Toslink) outputs. Digital could be better (280ps jitter), but fortunately my DAC has good jitter suppression, but analog (that I don’t use) is horrible (according to Stereophile) showing artifacts of around 1000ps jitter. If you cannot get data to DAC directly be sure that receiver/converter doesn’t add jitter. Many people go USB to USB/Spdif converter. Timing is not important with asynchronous USB but is important with Spdif (real time clock). If this timing is shaky you need reclocker.

Bluesound is excellent. /customer service is top notch, too.
I bought my Node's used, and Bluesound gives fast support when I had a problem with my players.
I bought an Ayre Codex to serve as DAC, the Node's are just for networking.
The 2 make a great combo.
B

Bluetooth is fine for a boombox, but not for serious audio. You may want to consider a Chromecast Audio. The default is a wifi connection, but it also has an optional ethernet connection if your signal is weak and you suffer dropouts. The internal DAC in the Chromecast is pretty decent, but it also has an optical digital output.