Ok I've just brought a mac book pro

A cheap reliable way is to buy an Airport Express, your iTunes will connect easily to it and it will stream the music to your 202/200 through a suitable lead.

Sound quality will be listenable but not first class.

If you decide that you want to upgrade later, the Airport Express will be useful for any second system you have 

There are lots of ways to skin this particular cat, it also depends on what you mean by cheap.

At GBP 100 you could look at the Arcam rPAC. It's a USB, bus powered DAC and headphone amp with an RCA output to connect to your 202.

At GBP 400 the irDAC also from Arcam is a solid choice.

At GBP 280 consider a a Sonos Connect. It can use the contents of your iTunes library as well as online radio and streaming services, meaning you don't always need the MacBook turned on. That comes with a years Deezer subscription if you buy before the end of the year.

Alternatively if you want to go wireless really cheapy blythe's suggestion of a Apple Airport Express would work. 

Also bear in mind what format you are ripping (or have ripped) your CD's into iTunes - MP3 is pretty rubbish and AIFF is lossless and not bad at all.
If you're listening purely to downloaded tracks, in MP3 format, Airport Express is just the ticket.

In my opinion, the Sonos Connect, whilst a great piece of kit (I own one) it is not, from my own experience, significantly better sound quality than an Airport Express.

Pete, you own a great amp and pre-amp.

You own a great computer, but a TERRIBLE music source.  Connecting your Macbook directly to your preamp would be a shame.  I suggest that you start thinking about how you want to do 'digital music.'  If you really want to use your new laptop as a source, vs. using something that can live full-time on your hi fi rack, I suggest getting the best USB dac that you can afford and connect the Macbook to it. 

Given your investment in your amp and preamp, going for the 'cheapest' digital music source makes no sense to me.  Get a proper usb dac at a minimum.

The Audioquest dragonfly is a pretty amazing device for the money. As others have said, not up to your amps, but a nice way to start.

I use a Connect connected digitally to my NDX and it sounds great on all the streaming services. Qobuz sounds fantastic and Spotify sounds just as good as my NDX (with the new firmware). It doesn't do Hi Res, but I use the NDX for that. And the Sonos UI is second to none. Also, there are loads of Apps available to get a very good sound out of your Mac, but you will need a good external DAC to go with it.

ok been thinking last night about this .

at the moment like I said money's tight idealy I would like to run my music though ipad .

not have to switch laptop or PC on everytime I want too listen .i do have an Apple TV ? is it the same as airport express?  so could I just plug a dac straight in , sorry this streaming does seem too confuse me , 

thanks for all your replies & advice keep it coming 

pete 

As you already have Apple TV, use that instead of an AirportExpress and as most people have already offered, connecting to an external DAC will make a big difference to the sound quality.

Use Airplay in iTunes and Bob's your uncle 

Should you choose to get an external DAC, they have been discussed in many threads, so it's a case of finding one within your budget.

The apple TV still needs a PC on.

The fact is if you want to do this then you need something serving the tunes, either a server or a NAS. If you are not willing to make this sacrifice then look seriously at spotify or stick to CD.

I have to say of all digital music solutions, the thought of using a laptop for anything other than a control point is beyond my understanding.

I use an Airport Express hard wired to my network, run iTunes on my PC (all tunes stored in AIFF format) and connect the AE to my 552/500/NBL system. I use the remote app on my iPad to select the tunes... it has no right to sound as good as it does for an outlay of £79! Perfectly good casual listening, but for serious listening other solutions would be needed, it would at least get you started cheaply.

I used a Macbook Pro for a while (using an Airport Express into my SN1 DAC) whilst pondering a better strategy. It was OK, but as you say, less than ideal. It doesn't scale up for large collections, and the need for the laptop to be on all the time was a pain. And the microwave oven made my music stop.

If you haven't got any analogue sources swap the 202 for a DAC-V1.

Dave

Why's that Gary? We've all got different needs when it comes to how we play our digital music; I use a Macbook Pro in our holiday home where the system's all set up, just plug it into the V1DAC, music on a small HD. Play using the Apple Remote. Works an absolute treat, I can use the laptop for computery things & take it home with me when we're done.

 I think when we start discussing the DAC-V1 and Hugo we are probably moving away from the original thrust of the thread which was cheap. That said dave4jazz's idea of swapping the 202 for a DAC V1 is a nice idea providing petespeed doesn't need analog inputs.

Not if you use iTunes Match. While very convenient iTunes Match is only a 256k service i.e. If you have WAV, AIFF or ALAC files they will be converted on upload to 256k AAC. Your local originals are not touched. There is also a 25k song limit.

I didn't quite realize that I can access my iTunes Match music from my Apple TV.  Is there an iTunes Match widget?  And how do you control an Apple TV if it's not connected to a TV?

The Apple TV is controlled by the free Remote application that runs on the iPad or iPhone. From this application you can access your music that exists within Apple TV, basically your iTunes. Your device, iPhone or iPad, can be connected to various output devices e.g. a Muso, or in my case also an Onkyo AV receiver whose Games output channel has been hijacked for 'pure' hi fi. None of this needs your tv to be active. The only proviso is that the tv needs to be on for software updates which you will discover when the music won't play! You need the tc on to access Apple TV settings.

The ever versatile iOS remote app.

Yes as a temporary solution for a holiday its fine. I presume a man of your capability has something like plex set up at home to serve all of your music through to your laptop, so as not to fill that lappy up!

We spend at least a week a month in our other place so a bit more than just holiday use only Gary. I'm a simple soul - at home a very similar setup except an iMac in place of the Macbook, music on HD, just a bit of the old uPnP stuff installed on the iMac so I can play music on my mu-so in the conservatory.

That's the problem with digital streaming, there are just so many alternatives it can get very complicated so I've done my best in my particular circumstances to keep things as simple as possible (although I'm rather tempted by Plex).