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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
audiolabyrinth's avatar
audiolabyrinth
4,555 posts
 
Thankyou for your reply Grannyring, It seems that My tube conversations over the last year have always had the RCA tubes highly revered, was it the RCA 5751 Black plates for your 12AX7 tubes?
audiolabyrinth's avatar
audiolabyrinth
4,555 posts
 
Matt, you are a real gentleman!, most would get nasty for me changeing the topic on their thread, To tell you the truth, The tube topic here is for my tube digital player, so in a since, this is about what is the best tubes for tube digital!, so it's not that much off topic, I look forward to all your post, you did agree that tube rolling is a Rabit hole, this is very apparent, I do not have definitive answers here yet, other than tubes that are very rare and exspensive, you see them, then you do not, and they are so far into yester year, I will call them Ghost tubes!
audiolabyrinth's avatar
audiolabyrinth
4,555 posts
 
Thankyou Paul79 for all your input, what is a good cost alternative to the tubes you recommended for my 12AU7/12AX7 tubes for my player,I like deep bass, transparency, Big sound stage presatation, NO forward presatation!, texture on the mid-range, and top end sparkle, look forward to your reply, BTw, that Plasmatron is a speacial unit, go to vh audio web-site and take a peek at it, I have known about that for a very long time, cheers.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,479 posts
 
Correct AudioL
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Hi Matt, if I recall correctly, K-01 might have some dedicated USB drivers on a CD shipped with the unit or downloadable from the Esoteric site. Were negative comments you heard related to use of K-01 with these dedicated drivers, or USB input via standard Windows / Mac drivers?

G.
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