Best PC to use as a Server

@mahler123-- You said you had issues with Audirvana, but attributed that to the maxed out hard drive in your computer. Apparently, Audirvana now has a Windows-based program.
I’m using the Audirvana for Mac-- it sounds good, but I haven’t really compared it to much. I did have an Oppo 95 and found that the transport was a ’choke point’, i.e. there wasn’t a huge difference between the Oppo full on (using it both to spin the disc and using its DAC) vs Oppo as transport into a Border Patrol DAC. But, when I swapped out the Oppo for a better, Redbook only transport, that made a difference.
I’ve been reading as much as I can, but obviously, none of that is a substitute for listening to the set up in one’s own system.
As a long time vinyl guy, I’m pretty impressed with how good some of these Redbook CDs and files (even though I’m only processing them at Redbook resolution via the Border Patrol) sound. SACD sounded good via the Oppo, but my main interest is in obscure stuff, which I’m more likely to find on old CDs.
Again, no statement of absolutes here--I’m still just getting my feet (or ears) wet.
PS: this thread bears on the issue: [url]https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/better-cdp-or-network-player/post?postid=1597772#1597772[/url]

@jaybe  i’m New to that forum.  Every forum has it’s share of Aholes, but at least they can stimulate useful discussions.
@whart  I think you may have misunderstood me about Audirvana.  It loaded and works just fine, but my Computer is a 2011 Mac Air with a limited HD, and A+ and dbpoweramp seem to have gobbled up the what was left of my HD.  I couldn’t do the last Apple update because it was out of room.  Apple has increased the size of their programs and I recently had to get a new iPhone for the same reason.
  Audirvana + is a significant improvement over iTunes, but A+ from the Air still doesn’t compete with the same files played from my NAS via Bluesound or the Oppo.  I am looking to replace A+ and dbpoweramp with MusiCHI, which is reportedly much better for Classical Music.  In CM most of us want the Metadata listed in a very different way than is traditional for other genres.

I asked this myself in late 2016 https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/looking-for-laptop-windows-10-for-music-only Folks recommended Eluktronics as a laptop and they seemed like a good choice as the mfg says they are loaded with basic Windows and no bloatware.  Looks like they have a good discount on now. 
I ended up just running my old Samsung series 9, upgraded to Windows 10 & Jriver 24 as my program.  It works really well.  If you've never used Jriver the learning curve is huge.  (For me anyway.)
Good luck, John

Take a look at the audio specific pc's, headless, controlled from your phone, iPad, or laptop. 

I have, over time, used three of Small Green Computer's models. 

There are other pre-built and supported options or you can build your own.