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
Hi Mattnshilp,
I have really enjoyed your posts and videos. Have you had the opportunity or desire to review / listen to any Nordost products? Since you seem to be on a footers detour now I would like to know how the Sort Kones and Sort Fut compare to the Stillpoints, IsoAcoustics and others you have had in your system.
Linn and Meridian are both hard to come by. I’ve thought of them several times. For servers, I think part of the issue is that they are proprietary. You need an entire server
dac infrastructure to make it work. Even so, they both have great reputations and I’d love to hear the new references meridian DAC and a linn Server. I’ll try.
Benjamin from Mojo Audio here...

Just got one of our demo Mystique v3 DACs back from review.

We’ll be sending it out to Matt on Monday.

As soon as one of our demo Deja Vu music servers comes back, we’ll be sending it to Matt as well.

Looking forward to reading his impressions.
Matt, I can possibly get you the Linn set up.  I've head the ref Meridian a bunch and it's not my cup of tea at all.  
Lot of this footer are also rack + gear dependent , also how you place them under your gear.
I was playing with the position of the stillpoints ultra ss under my meitner ma2 & the positions of the footers can shape the sound quite a bit. Needs quite a bit of patience.

Would be nice if you can audition the Linn klimax . I've heard it a couple of times & it did sound very good.
Also waiting to hear your views on the Mojo stuff.
All the best
Cheers