Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD


Hi All.

Putting together a reference level system.
My Source is predominantly standard 16/44 played from a MacMini using iTunes and Amarra. Some of my music is purchased from iTunes and the rest is ripped from standard CD's.
For my tastes in music, my high def catalogues are still limited; so Redbook 16/44 will be my primary source for quite some time.

I'm not spending DCS or MSB money. But $15-20k retail is not out of the question.

Upsampling vs non-upsampling?
USB input vs SPDIF?

All opinions welcome.

And I know I need to hear them, but getting these ultra $$$ DAC's into your house for an audition ain't easy.

Looking for musical, emotional, engaging, accurate , with great dimension. Not looking for analytical and sterile.
mattnshilp
Matt, it might depend on what you are playing on the speakers.... Electric bass as an example, is likely to be perfectly OK, it naturally blooms into the third harmonic while attenuating the fundamental, because of the relative shortness of the strings, and the natural inclination of the amplifiers used in the live venues.

But try to give such speakers some organ music extending downwaards into the 16,32, or 64 foot pipe ranks, or other bassus prufundus, like some orchestral string bass, large percussion, etc... and you are likely to get a somewhat unpitched bloom at the bottom instead of fundamental frequencies.

Probably euphonically pleasing to some.... Would drive me batty.

As you know, I am not even faintly in the market for new speakers. But spoiled as I am by the finely setup VA Die Muzik in my loft, I could not live with a bass compromise, as "natural" as it might seem prima face.

Rather, on purely hypothetical new speakers, I would seek even deeper bass, perhaps going down to the higher teens, still consistent with the pitch integrity and harmonic articulation that DIe Muzik are capable of delivering down to the lower twenties region.

G
Guido, that is what I have been in search of. I want a speaker with the tonal accuracy and proper coherence of the Die Muzik with more low end extension, bottom or front ported and in a petite package. Is that asking too much??? The Tenor seams to be the closest thing to that this far in a small package. I'm still having issues with shout with the Consequences, which is driving me batty because they had none at the store demo. It's bordering on fatiguing, which is making me want to cry. I can't figure it out.... But I shall not give up.

Isis is still one up, one down. My son has been busy with school work and today be was out at a marching band performance/football game. I'm picking him up at 10:30. I can't, in good conscience, ask the poor kid to sharp a 200 pound crate into the basement with me after a 16 hour day.....

I'm hoping tomorrow and then I can set them up.
I'm ready to start drinking. I have read over every review of the Consequence Ultimate and talked with many people who know the Consequence Ultimate well and nowhere, in review or discussion, does anyone report or hear what I am complaining of. Nor did I hear it at the store. Other then the bit of a shout (and it's not harsh or truly fatiguing-it's just bothering me considering how much $$$$$ I have into them), I love the speaker. They vanish even though they are a large cabinet and the throw a wonderfully wide and deep soundstage. They are tonally accurate and multi layered with wonderfully accurate leading and trailing edges.

I'm not giving up. But I will pull them for a bit to give the Isis a good listen.

I had a local dealer drop off an Allnic D5000 DHT DAC and Antipodes DX server. Cool!!! I'll report mid next week on this as well.
Hi Matt, if in about one more month of grinding out signals the Consequences do not tame the shoutiness, you might need to get a professional to do a methodic setup... And if the shoutiness persists after that, you might need to look for tamer creatures... Or add a pair of Rel active subs to the good old Muziks to let your system reach down one more half clean octave.

G.
Remember Guido - the reason I looked past Die Muzik is the rear port issue which activates mucho nodes in the room. Adding more base would have been a disaster....

I agree that if the shout doesn't settle with burn in then a Master Set may be in order. Unless the Isis blow me away; they will be moved down today and set up by tomorrow at the latest.

As I said, I have heard the Ultimates myself in other locations and I just loved them. I think the shout is somehow due to my room, I just can't figure out how to correct it. It's a labour of love....

I do have a LOT of DAC's coming my way. The Allnic D5000 and an Antipodes DX arrived yesterday. So I have a LOT of work to do.