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.
I was able to build an LX521 kit for less than that, and in the right room I don’t really think you can top it for the price, though you need to DIY and these days it’s a stretch to get the complete system under $5k at all. You’d need to score some used amps at the very least, and probably do the wood cutting yourself.
I think a pretty killer setup would be a pair of Kef R3 (non-Meta, $1.4k) a Minidsp flex with Umik and Dirac license($800) a Buckeye amp, and then the remaining on a pair of subwoofers and some room treatment. DIY can make that stretch farther.
I normally would say “put all the money in the speakers”, but I think the R3 are ‘good enough’ that you get more benefit from being able to put the <120hz stuff into subs with just the right crossover and positioning for your specific room and positioning. The Kef are something you could sit fairly close to due to the driver layout, and so this setup could probably go louder than you’d ever want.