The reason it’s funny is the whole system is very different from the giant stereo I had at one point in my life
I did the same.
I sold my DACs and put away my amps, and am now mobile and
free to choose where I hear my music.
Very liberating experience.
It's shocking just how good these players have achieved desktop quality level..
Technology is wonderful and this level of miniaturization for DAPs (and similarly cell phones) has indeed been transformative to our daily lives. I also used to have a giant stereo (stacks of mono amps!) and am glad to not have to take up living room space with that anymore.
I know users that have sold top summit-fi level gear, to end up with a top level DAP instead.
They are already good enough and the real advantage is not being chained down to one place in the house.
You can now roam freely and have top level sound.
It is very refreshing to be free of a home system.
I think the trend now is having more powerful DAPs, in order to play your favorite headphones and have a total solution.
Current rumour is 1A/1Z will be replaced in 2021, so depending on your need it may be worth waiting
Let's hope it will finally be competitive in price to the other DAPs, that have come out with many features like streaming and more power for less price.
Looking at the newer A&K SE200, that unit is an example of way much features and big screen and power for less than $2k, so for Sony to compete, it needs to offer something desirable.