[jarcher]

Don't stray from your initial thought of MBA.  You get use of a laptop this way too, plus it's easy to run and you can still use the Remote app with it.  Run Audirvana or Pure Music.  I've heard MBPs sound fantastic on high end equipment.

Audiophile mumbo jumbo gets us steered away from reality sometimes.

You can use the Remote app & run Audiovarna or Pure Music on a Mac Mini as well at almost half the cost of a MBA.  Don't get me wrong : a well set up MBA will probably still beat the pants off of many CD players as a transport, but so will a mac mini, so why pay more if you don't need the portability? 

As for audiophile mumbo jumbo - sorta goes with being an audiophile doesn't it?  I mean otherwise we'd all just be sporting iPods w/ white earbuds and spending all our free time on sports and be talking their mumbo jumbo instead……..?

[mr_bill]

JohnR, you raise a good point.  I am looking for something aesthetically pleasing, with a minimum of components, and easy to operate by my wife.  If we had the MBA/Hegel solution, she would push the power button on the Hegel and then turn on the MBA, which would boot in a matter of seconds.  She could then navigate to iTunes and start a playlist.  She could raise or lower the volume, or even advance to the next song, by punching the Hegel remote. 

On the other hand, with a Mac mini, you would need a display (a third item to add to our proposed system if we used the mini).  I know, you will probably tell me to operate the Mac mini with an iDevice but we are talking simplicity here for my wife.  Also, we would initially operate the MBA with its built-in storage (a fourth item to add to our proposed system if we used the mini).  Finally, I have heard time and again about the beauty of battery-only operation, which would not be possible with the Mac mini.

I have nothing against the Mac mini and have heard of many successful implementations of it.  Just wanted to discuss the MBA here.   

[Flashman]

Hey, I just want to thank everyone for chiming in with their thoughts on this thread.  I learned a lot and still have a lot of learning to do.  I came across some new products and was willing to have my assumptions challenged.  That's the wonderful thing about AC: you come in with a bias or a set of questions and you pretty much get a decent response with differing points of view. 

My goal is still to find a living room set-up that does hi-rez, two-channel music with the minimum of appliances, great flexibility and, importantly, ease of use.  Oh yeah, it has to sound pristine!

I am considering (not in any preferred order at this point)
1) MacBook Air running Audirvana and (same for 2-4 below) lashed to a Hegel H80 integrated amp/DAC with a NAS
2) Mac mini as player
3) Pioneer N-50 as player
4) Bluesound Node as player
5) Sony HAP-Z1ES and Sony TA-A1ES

Oh, and I like the Sonus Faber Venere 3.0 speakers.  They will match well with the Hegel.

Again, thanks to all!

[Quiet Earth]

What about the Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6? It has the wi-fi built right in. I think you have to add that feature to the Pioneer.  I kind of had my eye on something like this for internet radio and occasional USB drive listening. It's sort of expensive for radio and background music, but it's cheaper than a MacBook Air.

http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/stream-magic-6-upsampling-network-music-player

http://www.whathifi.com/review/cambridge-audio-stream-magic-6

[mr_bill]

I'd go with 1,2 or 5

[Flashman]

What about the Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6? It has the wi-fi built right in. I think you have to add that feature to the Pioneer.  I kind of had my eye on something like this for internet radio and occasional USB drive listening. It's sort of expensive for radio and background music, but it's cheaper than a MacBook Air.

http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/stream-magic-6-upsampling-network-music-player

http://www.whathifi.com/review/cambridge-audio-stream-magic-6

Quiet Earth, thanks for the recommendation but it won't do 24/196 over a network and for me that's a deal killer.

[AllynW]

Used to have an older MacBook Air on my shelve and now have a Mac Mini.  The mini looks cleaner.  On the MBA the wires extend from the sides and rest on the shelve. With the mini all the wires are hidden to the rear for a cleaner appearance.

Wife's and Audio.  My wife never wanted get near my stereo, She said it was confusing all those buttons and such.  Late last year I broke my foot.  She learned real quick what to push and turn to get it going.  Now that I am walking again she won't go near it, LOL!

[Flashman]

Used to have an older MacBook Air on my shelve and now have a Mac Mini.  The mini looks cleaner.  On the MBA the wires extend from the sides and rest on the shelve. With the mini all the wires are hidden to the rear for a cleaner appearance.

Wife's and Audio.  My wife never wanted get near my stereo, She said it was confusing all those buttons and such.  Late last year I broke my foot.  She learned real quick what to push and turn to get it going.  Now that I am walking again she won't go near it, LOL!

AllynW, amusing story and so true.  I recall my wife begging me to get rid of the thousand remotes to operate all the different stuff in our media center.  So I bought a Harmony unified remote and showed her how easy it was.  Then I went on an extended business trip and she couldn't figure out how to use the Harmony remote to operate the Roku 3 streaming device, which is connected to a TV and a sound bar.  So when I returned, she asked me to pull out the remotes for the Roku and the sound bar so she didn't have to fool around with the Harmony remote!  Go figure!