Mac Mini or Marantz NA7004 for 24/96+ ALAC

[Balthazar2k4]

All of my music is in ALAC format and a fair amount of it is 24/88 or higher. The AppleTV blows in this regard as it is stuck with 16/48 output. Seemingly nothing else (at least in my price range) streams ALAC. I have tried a Squeezebox Touch, but the server side software was extremely buggy with ALAC and crashed frequently. So now I am left with a decision, do I get a Mac Mini (which I know almost nothing about) or a Marantz NA7004 which appears to support 24/96 ALAC via AirPlay (not that I can find an actual confirmation of this). I have an external DAC so that is irrelevant in the conversation. Thoughts?

 

I just want something easy to use that does not necessarily require my TV to be on to use. FWIW, I am also running a Windows based media server in my basement. I bring this up because I have no idea how this might effect the use of a Mac Mini.