Improving sound quality of streaming setup

Mapman - I agree that SB Touch is probably the best stock network source, but it can be improved with mods, power upgrades or reclocking. I have had them here and both modded and reclocked them. I use a Sonos myself, but I also have a SB3. Both SB and Sonos provide one with a clean digital signal compared to Apple. Once you have this, there is no drawback to the source except jitter which can be improved several ways. Its an excellent starting point.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

My suggestion was an attempt to keep it simple, per the OP request.

bondmanp, if you are looking for a fan less solution look into the CAPS 2 servers described at computer audiophile.com.

I didn't mean using the laptop on his lap, but rather having it sit by the stereo, likely several feet away from his ears. Surely some laptops are still audible, but many aren't and still his priority is simplicity.

With a reclocker like Synchro-Mesh, you could use a stock Sonos, squeezebox or AppleTV.

Only after gutting and modding the piss out of them (ala Boulder)....

There is a misperception of the Z at work here. It is a highly modded entity with its own master clock, dual power supplies (one of the clock), proprietary shielding, etc, etc. According to the designer, it is a low jitter affair. The French audiophile who turned me onto it used to own an Empirical Audio offramp along with a highly modded Squeezebox, and the Z thumped it. He also did shootouts with Weis, Alpha Berkley, etc, etc. The Z was found to be superior. Dan from dbSystems has developed a plug-in the hacks Airtunes to circumvent the downsampling to Apple Lossless during transmission. I own it and it is much better than stock Itunes and even Pure Music.

You can tweak the unit further by putting in a synergistic fuse, and floating the transformer on audiopoints. I have also pondered using the Bybee music rails to lower the noise floor further.

WiFi is still limited in what it can transmit in terms of file type (RB only as far as I know). Hopefully Apple will uncork it soon. Its only a matter of time.

Since audio is an endless, open-ended experiment, you could always try Steve's new product and see if it improved things....

Agear - I also made the AE sound pretty good, but there limitations of the chip being used in there, namely the PCM270X. Crummy chip. There is also the fact that Apple encodes the stream to ALAC.

I have had the Zardoz from another customer here, so I know it.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

I also made the AE sound pretty good, but there limitations of the chip being used in there, namely the PCM270X.

Mine uses a chip from Marvell. I do not know the chipset used in the Sonos or Logitech, but I cannot imagine they are any better.

There is also the fact that Apple encodes the stream to ALAC.

There is a workaround. See above.

Steve, you promote the use of multiple wifi transmitters in conjunction with your Synchromesh device (Apple TV, Express, Sonos, etc). Why does it matter which device is used if it is reclocked?

Like everything else in audio, I think sound quality can be influenced just as much or more by the quality of the parts and their implementation. The digital noise floor on the Zardoz (now La Rosita) is very low (<-102dB), much lower than any CDP. It also has a proprietary power supply. All that matters IMO.

Disclaimer: I am no way affiliated with dBSystems. Just an end user....