Ok so base on my research and experience, if you had $5000 dollar, taking into account diminishing returns, this would be how one should allocate budget for a streaming based mid-fi system:
Speakers: 2000 (40%) Power Amp: 1000 (20%) Pre Amp with room correction capabilities: 1000 (20%) (or allocate to physical room treatment things. Everything else (20%) DAC： 500 Streamer: 200 Cables and interconnects : 200 (not much audible difference so long as not use the shittiest ones) Stands: 100
This is based on that
Speaker matters the most, then suitable amp = room acoustics/speaker placement, then perhaps quality of the DAC’s photo stage pair with a decent DAC chip, then everythig else is probably less than 5%.
I mean, we can argue all day on whether cables are snake oil, but I think for most people it is just about the most efficient resources allocation giving a budget constrain.
These days, it’s completely different than in the past because there are so many great products available at low prices.
Some people would be satisfied by a Buchardt or Kef all in one system and the convenience would be a major selling point.
For myself, I like so many designs so it depends on the day. I could be happy with a nice pair of Genelecs or the Philharmonic towers with Purifi woofers, I also love my GR Research speakers and consider them to have amazing sound quality, but I do use subwoofers in that setup.
As you can see, very little would go toward electronics as there really isn’t value there, there’s moreso different tuning. I would grab a power amplifier (if needed) that has great measurements so a Purifi, NCORE, etc. A $100 DAC is honestly good enough (not worth giving up speaker quality). For streaming, a WIIM is “good enough.”