kmlav said:
The best way to store you music collection is on a networked nas drive , very cheap to buy and plug and play. One good tip is make sure you back everything up, I say this from personal experience! There are a number of program's that you can use to transfer you cd collection, db power amp is a good one for windows users .
That's where I'd start. However you end up streaming your music, you'll have to store it somewhere, and a NAS drive is a relatively cheap and very flexible form of storage. I'd recommend the models from Synology (e.g. DS213J) or QNAP (HS-210). You then need to add the hard disks: Amazon will sell you the whole lot as a package with the disks already installed. The Synology or QNAP with 3TB of storage will be around £300.
Both come with their own packaged audio streaming software and the capacity to output a high-quality audio stream via USB straight into an asynchronous USB DAC. (Not all USB DACs will work this way, so try before you buy.) The audio streaming app can be used on a smartphone or tablet, so that your hand-held device turns into a nice remote control. The QNAP has the advantage of being fanless and hence virtually silent in operation.
IMO this kind of set up, assuming you have a half-way decent DAC, will give you sound quality as good as a high-end streamer from Linn or Naim. To my mind, the streamers sold by traditional hi-fi manufacturers are looking increasingly like seriously bad VFM.
From this point on there's a wide range of different configurations. As Record Spot has said, you can buy an integrated amp including a DAC. Or you can go the standalone async DAC route I suggested above. Some DACs, e.g. the Audiolab M-DAC, include a preamp with digital volume control, which means you just need to add a power amp to complete your set-up. Or you can buy a specialized streamer: the Sonos Connect is very popular because of its simplicity, expandability and its superb user interface. A Connect will plug straight into a DAC (via SPDIF or optical) or it contains its own DAC which can feed into an integrated amp.
Soz that was a bit wordy and has probably said lots that you already knew.
Matt