Digital Audio Media Player Choices

[Loren42]

Okay, first, I have reached the hight of frustration with Apple as a music server and a mechanism to feed my stereo system. I am tired of getting messages that I am not allowed to do this or that. I pay for all my music and the last thing I need is a digital nanny. I have also outgrown the poor MP3-like audio quality, which means it is time to upgrade.

So, I have begun a campaign to replace my downloaded Apple music with CDs, HD downloads, or even vinyl in an effort to get control over my music.

I built my own tube amplifier and my own speakers now and all I need is way to deliver music to my system in an intelligent, easy to use, and quality way.

So, what I need is some hardware that interfaces to my tube amp and a mechanism to store all my music digitally without a nanny telling me what to do.

I am thinking that a simple network drive is the right storage vault, but what do I use to interface to my stereo system?

So far as I can tell there are players like Logitech, Cambridge Audio, Sonos, but none seem to be a great choice from what I can tell. What are the good quality choices for a budget of $1,000 or less to do this?

Thanks in advance.