How good is the Select with renderer going direct in a reference stereo amp vs reference pre + great streamer + 30k DAC like Emm Labs DA2 for example + reference stereo amp ?
i can only comment about one side of your question. i have used the MSB Select II with Renderer directly into my dart mono's and it was very close to using my $40k dart preamp. it might even be a matter of preference.
not then directly compared to another dac at the same time, but within the previous 6 months i had 3 separate dacs (Lampi GG 1.5, Aqua Formula, and Nagra HD) in the system with that same preamp, and the Select II direct was better than my recollection of those fine dacs.
if i was starting my system over from scratch right now, my first thought would be digital only MSB Select II/Taiko Extreme server directly into my dart amps. period.
i would be fine with the Renderer using a less performing server until i could swing an Extreme.
i would use the MSB Pro USB interface and not the Renderer, but that issue is splitting hairs. both approaches are fantastic.