My current stereo (amp, tuner, CD, tape deck, EQ) is from the 1990s.  We use it to listen to CDs (including my music), and I connected it to the TV (for decent sound during movies), and to the Playstation, sick Rock Band gets better latency when we bypass the TV and plug the PS3 directly into the stereo.
 
What the stereo lacks is any sort of "modern" digital playback.  There are no inputs free to attach an mp3 player, and even if I detached the TV or the tape deck, I don't really have an mp3 player that I would enjoy using every day.  Also, there is no computer near the stereo, so basically it's a dead-end in terms of being able to quickly listen to Sonar mixes on the "destination" sound system.
 
We will be moving to a house with 2 listening areas.  The downstairs will be for kids, TV, and playstation, so I am content to put the old stereo there.
 
However, for the upstairs "adult" area, I need a new stereo.  It's on that one that I would like to preview my Sonar mixes.  So, it needs to be able to play mp3s (or, ideally wavs).  It would be great if it could play most or all of my 500 GB CD collection, which I have ripped to wav files.  Also, it would be nice it could play Spotify.
 
I have a pair of powered monitors (Resolv 65a) sitting in a box.  I also have a pair of unpowered speakers which I could use as well.  And I have some old desktop computers collecting dust.
 
Here are the options I can think of, from cheapest to most expensive:
 
1) Connect old computer to powered speakers.  I don't have any spare monitors, so I'd need to buy one of those.
-- PRO: Easy to get Sonar mixes on it, since it's networked.
-- PRO: Easy to copy entire CD collection to it (assume its HD is big enough).
-- PRO: Easy to run Spotify (assuming the computer is not too old).
-- PRO: Computer could also be used for web browsing.
-- CON: Computers are ugly, and it might hurt the aesthetic of that upstairs room.
-- CON: Computer's audio card might not be that great (is a Soundblaster Live decent for home stereo use?)
-- CON: Computers eat power, and it's a pain to be turning them on and off just to listen to music.
-- CON: Have to remember to turn off powered speakers when done listening to music.
 
2) Buy mp3 player, connect it to powered speakers.
-- PRO: Smaller footprint (and power consumption) than computer.
-- CON: Might be harder to network for previewing Sonar mixes (in mp3 or wav format).
-- CON: Might not be able to hold entire CD collection (in uncompressed format).
-- CON: Might not support Spotify.
-- CON: Might not sound that great (compared to listening to a CD on the old stereo).
-- CON: Might have an annoying user interface (like every other cheap mp3 player I've owned).
-- CON: Have to remember to turn off powered speakers when done listening to music.
 
3) Buy mp3 player and amp, connect to unpowered speakers:
-- PRO: Don't have to remember to turn off powered speakers.
 
4) Buy "smart" TV, connect it to powered speakers.
-- PRO: We plan to eventually put a TV in that room anyway.
-- CON: Probably cannot hold entire CD collection.
-- CON: Probably has a slow, annoying user interface (like the other Smart TVs I've used).
-- CON: Have to remember to turn off powered speakers when done listening to music.
 
5) Buy "smart" TV and amp, connect to unpowered speakers.
-- PRO: Don't have to remember to turn off powered speakers.
 
 
What do you think?  What sort of "digital" stereo do you use to easily preview to your mixes (and listen to other music), in a "family" (non-studio) context?

I just boughty a Sony Blue Ray player for $70. This will do almost anything you used to do with a computer, it has a network connection and can access Net Flicks or any networked device. It has a USB port and plays movies, music and pictures stored on a Stick or portable drive. 
 
I had the office computer using our 32" TV as a monitor and audio connected to a Yamaha intigrated Amp and my old Tanoy monitors. But my wife was forever complaining that this was too complicated when ever she went to play  music or movies,,, so I bought the Blue Ray player which she now is happy to use without issue. She'd much rather pop in a CD or DVD than muck about with a computer. Besides the TV as a computer monitor was a PITA. 
 
So what I'm saying is if you buy modern Blue Ray Player and run the audio out to your old amp it will add that MP3 player your thinking about as well as serve all duties a computer would add. 
http://www.sony.ca/en/ele...disc-players/bdp-s1500
 
As far as a new stereo look no farther== https://www.outlawaudio.com/products/rr2150.html

 
My brother bought one. around $700. I'm an audio guy, I know when I'm listening to a premium set up and this amp is the best sound I've ever heard in a long time ( at this price point).   
And you'll notice it has a USB connection on the back so it will stream audio from a USB drive.  It's on my wish list as my old collection of intergrated amps all have issues these days. The Yamaha was his old amp and there was this noticable differance when he upgraded to the Outlaw. 

I will add that for my wife in the kitchen/ dinning/ living room I bought a basic getto ( $80)  with the CD player and a USB port. It also has old school ipad dock which we've never used...my iPhone is a lightnig connector.  
It's a little JVC RD n1 from Radio Shack. I bought it because it sounded better than the rest I tried that day. 

 
It has a mini jack input and she sometimes plugs her laptop into it. Mostly she uses the Radio. 
My son gave me this weird ALtec Sub woofer with  8 Ohm speaker outs which I ran to some MIssion Speakers. It's weird as it only has a mini jack connector for input so must have been for a computer system..
I can use the headphone output of the Getto and fire up this killer system that's sitting in the front room.. I use the USB stick and load my studio songs on it to test it with the getto speakers or the "big"" system. 
But you got me thinking I bet I can network to my DAW with the BlueRay player... I'm going to go try that right now...

I curse each and every stinking, cruel, depressing day the outrageously uncontrolled brain fart that caused me to sell my lovely Pioneer SX-780 receiver and buy a modern system with all the digital doodads. I hate it. I hope that whatever you get is better than what you have now and won't cause you the sorrow I suffer from daily.
 
But whatever, it's just music.

Ok the Blue Ray player only will access Netflicks and the app store. It has no browser or networking tools.
 
#1 the old computer-. I still use old XP computers and laptops and never run into any issues using the internet. I just installed a brand new wireless printer and it works.  And as far as using on board sound cards , it's only Sonar that hates their existence. I've been using on board sound for all my playback including my solo act live playback of backing tracks.. Most are very hi quality as far as that goes. Just don't use them with a DAW. I can even edit in Wave Lab with an on board card. 
 

My TV and Blu-ray player have proprietary browsers but no spotify.  Also, they cannot hold a big mp3/wav collection.  My Playstation 3 has spotify and lots of disc space.  So maybe another solution is getting a secondhand ps3 for upstairs.
 
As for the upstairs amp: I would need to buy it because the old amp will stay at the heart of the old stereo, downstairs.  The only way to avoid an upstairs amp is to user powered monitors up there.  But then I have the issue of needing to remember to turn them on and off.
 
I wish there were a way to turn off the powered monitors via remote control.  Or to somehow connect them to the mp3 player (or computer or whatever I use up there) in such a way that when the music player turns off, so do the speakers.  Hmm...

"Grace" makes a lot of media players.  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HZN1WXE?keywords=internet%20radio%20grace&qid=1449576729&ref_=sr_1_3&sr=8-3
 
And most (Sony, etc) have mp3/cd player combinations that you can use with a stereo system.

I have an Emby Server with all my music:
https://emby.media/
I also use it for Video.  I can stream video and/or audio to any pc in the house.
 
I also have one of these Bluetooth to headphone jack devices hooked to my legacy amp:
http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Wireless-Bluetooth-Receiver-NFC-Enabled/dp/B00KXYXXK2/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1449593531&sr=1-2&keywords=bluetooth
works great.
Amps/receivers are personal decisions.  whatever sounds best for you is the one you should get.  Everyones ears are different!
Me personally, I use a Marantz 2250B I bought in 1978.  I had it refurbished once and it sounds good to me!
 

As far as a computer-based system is concerned there are some tiny "home media" PCs about, and Apple's Mini. Very low power usage, very quiet and a base model would probably do the job easily apart from maybe needing an external USB drive to add more storage. If you've an ipad or android tablet then other than setting it up it wouldn't need a screen, MS and Apple have good remote desktop systems so the computer could be controlled from a tablet.

Been a long time since I heard a Soundblaster, but Apple's on-board sound is pretty good. Plus even the cheaper USB interfaces usually have adequate playback quality for a media setup. A base model Focusrite perhaps?

I talked to my partner more about these options, and I think we can rule out the computer-as-media-server idea.  She hates the idea of a computer in the upstairs living area.
 
I asked about a playstation or blu-ray player and she said fine.  Just not a computer!
 
So, we could potentially have a PS3 connected to a TV.  That would give us an easy interface, and a 500GB PS3 would let me hold a decent audio collection.
 
Does anyone have experience with using a PS3 as a media player (without hacking the OS)?  So, using the PS3 to play mp3 and/or wav files, plus (potentially) mp4 or mkv video files.