greg928gts Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 I'd like your recommendations for a DAC and player, or combination. Let's say under $1000. I've never owned separates, don't know much about them, but I'd like to explore a little. I've always had mediocre cd players and I'm ready for an upgrade. My Denon has the special output, I don't know what you call it, but I've been told I can use it as a player through an external DAC. So I could start there. I know someone who has a NIB Encore DAC for $1200. Is this a nice unit? Good deal? Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnsonhp Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 Perpetual Technologies DAC, Interpolation, Power Supply with Dan Wright Level 2 mods. You can upgrade even when buying used to the new all-in one product when it comes out. http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?dgtlconv&1058495681 http://www.modwright.com/products/p3a.php http://www.av123.com/products_category.php?section=processors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khorn58 Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 The DAC1 http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/ Love it! so does just about evrey pro out there this is fast becoming a standard to test others by. Nothing under 2k can touch it and a lot over 2 k . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted June 2, 2003 Share Posted June 2, 2003 another to consider in that price range is a tricked out MSB Link DAC III, you can get a "full nelson" version for less than $1,000. You should also consider used DACs since nothing wears out and people tend to upgrade this component quite often there are lots of great used DACs out there...the DAC-2 from Bel Canto which sounded great to my ears..Electrocompaniet, Camelot, Muscial Fidelity, Channel Islands...and the audio aero prima which has the same innards as the capitole...check out audiogon and ebay...tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tillerman Posted June 2, 2003 Share Posted June 2, 2003 If you are looking for used and inexpensive, consider an Audio Alchemy UltraDAC, which combines an anti jitter box (DTI+) with a DAC (DITB) on one chassis. I have one with an older CD player hooked up through the coaxial output. Fantastic improvement in sound and reasonably priced. eBay price ranges from $175 to $250. You can find them on Audiogon as well. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted June 2, 2003 Share Posted June 2, 2003 I have the MSB Link II. The MSB with upsampling must be sweet. As Sunny Sal stated the "full nelson" version is quite impressive. You cannot arrange a demo very easy. Buy from audioadvisor.com and use their 30 day money back garuntee. You cannot go wrong with the Perpetual Technologies either. Buy a very good digital cable to prevent jitter issues; this is a must. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted June 2, 2003 Share Posted June 2, 2003 I read tons about digital in the past 5 years and have never heard of the Encore DAC. For $ 1200 there are many "proven" options. Even a Pioneer DV 47 multi format player has good CD playback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnsonhp Posted June 2, 2003 Share Posted June 2, 2003 I'm starting to get the impression that for CD enjoyment one of these $1k DAC, etc. setups is a critical part of a system. There seems to be a notable jump in performance addressing a lot of the common issues with digital audio. Mark Schiftler from Perpetual Technologies/Onix/AV123.com will be in Dallas at the end of the month with the PT gear, the new Onix Ref speakers and the German MBL electronics. I look forward to checking it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted June 6, 2003 Author Share Posted June 6, 2003 I have a friend who's going to let me borrow an Audio Alchemy DDE v3.0 external Digital-to-Analog converter. Does anyone know about this particular unit? Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted June 6, 2003 Share Posted June 6, 2003 Not exactly. But they are not supposed to be chopped liver. So much for the technical assessment. I would say it would be a treat for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 I know it's not easy to get the equipment together in one place, but I wonder how the $1K+ DACs compare to the Philips DVD963, which costs $500 and includes SACD. I have a Philips DVD963. Does anyone in the Boston area have one of the above DACs. If so, I'm up for a comparison or two. Just send me a note through the mail on this site. If you leave me a message here, on the site, remind me with a post, because I never remember to check my mail on this BB. leok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Bey Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 This may not be what you want to hear, but reconsider seperate DACs. They benefit greatly from dedicated high quality transports, and I would heartily endorse the MSB Link III. Don't worry about the options, but the upgraded PS and the parts upgrade is good. But don't do it. Instead, at that price point, consider buying a nice used CD player. You can get one with a high quality transport, high quality DAC, etc. all in one box, and no need to worry about jitter, which is introduced by not having an external clock sync between transport and DAC. I spent quite a time looking for a good CD player, bought and sold a lot of used ones, and ended up with a Theta Miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted June 7, 2003 Author Share Posted June 7, 2003 ---------------- On 6/7/2003 8:27:48 AM Randy Bey wrote: This may not be what you want to hear, but reconsider seperate DACs. ---------------- On the contrary Randy, this type of information is exactly what I visit this forum for. Thanks for your input. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Randy, as usual, hit the nail on the head. a used SOTA all-in-one player could be a better solution, especially if you do not have a good transport candidate (though I find my el cheapo sonys + linksys to sound better than a variety of my friends multi-thousand dollar players). randy feels strongly that a good transport is important, thus what use a great DAC and crap transport? audiogon shows a bunch of nice used players for $1,000 or less. coudl be a great alternative. tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 I can imagigne the Theta was reasonably expensive. I would like to get a "one box" player from Meridian or Mark Levinson some day. In different listening sessions I am convinced the Sony transport with MSB Link II with the AQ Digital cable as an integral part of the sucess was equal to the Rega Planet or 2nd from the top of the line Rotel cd player. About a $ 550 investment; the Link II was a demo. I read allot of reviews and did allot of listening before I made this move. There has been no interest in tweaking CD sound since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted June 7, 2003 Author Share Posted June 7, 2003 Yeah, I'm begining to think that you may be right Randy. After reading the thread "Ah! Njoe Tjoebs 4000 does it for me in a big way" I'm very excited about this tube cd player. This is within my price range, and being an all in one unit makes setup and integration into my system really easy. I like the Ah! better then the Heart just based on the website and the presentation. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Bey Posted June 8, 2003 Share Posted June 8, 2003 I've heard that the Heart sounds better than the Ah!. Not having heard either I cannot comment. But I will say that this kind of mass-market tweaked player is NOT what I had in mind. The Theta has seven power supplies, for example. The transport is a Theta Pearl, which is an important component of the total sound. This is a Pioneer Stable Platter mechanism, where the CD goes in upside down (data side up). Resist the urge to get a tweaked mass market player, is my opinion. Go used, not new, and shoot for players that have addressed jitter issues and filter issues (filters attributing quite a bit of sound to the end result). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Landau Posted June 8, 2003 Share Posted June 8, 2003 Theta's transports are great. I have used the Data Basic II for 6 years without any failure. Such a transport can be found for $400-750. Apogee's DA-1000E-20 Reference DAC will match it beautifully and can be also found for around $500. This is a killer combo that will match any $4k-5k players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLM Posted June 8, 2003 Share Posted June 8, 2003 Good, inexpensive DAC's: Channel Audio, ART DI/O, ART DI/O as modded by Bolder Cable (smART DI/O, Mensa DI/O), and Scott Nixon's straight and tubed DAC's. Prices for these DAC's run $100 - 1,000.00. If you're tempted to go the modified route I recommend to start with a quality player, espcially the transport, and go to a quality modder. Best if you can buy the player already modded straight from the vendor. Currently the Music Hall RAM CD-25 from Response Audio as modded by Dan Wright fulfills all these criteria the best, IMO. AH Tube 4000, Heart 6000, and the new Jolida are popular alternatives. They all run about $1,000.00. Check audiogon for a used Sony SACD 9000 (should be able to score one for around $700.00). This exception to the above recommendations can provide, as fully modded by Dan Wright, the best CD and SACD playback available under $2,000.00. This model is very well built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted June 8, 2003 Author Share Posted June 8, 2003 You guys aren't making this easy!! I love the idea of having a tube CD player. I think there's something to be said for an all in one unit, especially for me. I don't need to get into cabling issues and such. I think buying used is a great idea, but then when you read about the new units, they seem like they'd be so much better because of all the "improvements". Like from the Ah! 99 to the Ah! 4000. Read the website and you won't want a 99. Besides, I think the asking price for the Ah! is very reasonable. I think Randy makes a good point though about going with a modded unit vs. something like the Theta, where the Theta is designed and built from scratch to be a real high-end transport and DAC. I'm confused and tired. Goodnight. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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