Hello Keith, Malcolm, Rich, Deeza, Graham, et al

Thanks for all the information.

Keith recommended
Grab a laptop off eBay (there's over 2000 listed atm from 99p....) and
get
an external soundcard. I use this one xxx and can recommend it for the
money!
Does a laptop not have a sound card - or does it need
special functions ?
And external harddrive if you need it - chase down the the 2.5 inch
**USB** (no power supply needed) Freecom 'Classic Mobile' 40 and 80 Gig
drives
That's no problem. I already have a Maxtor LSE-5000
external HD.

Malcolm recommended
a squeezebox from slimdevices
Must the squeezebox run over wifi from the computer ?
Is it possible to load files onto it e.g. via USB,
connect it to the amp, and
then have it work independently from the computer,
as would a normal mp3 player ?

Best regards and thanks again from Ray