I've got only about 35hours on my new Tubadour iii (Dueland caps) and it's sounding really really good.There's the tiniest bit of hash over some of the vocals but of course I'm listening for it and being extra critical.It's just an open, organic,dynamic sound.Excellent separation and detail but doesn't highlight any one frequency band.
My equipment is all tubed so I've been playing a CD on repeat quietly every day for 3-4hours then listening for what changed that day for a couple of tracks.Today it was sounding so clear and beautiful with acoustic music I thought I'd throw it a challenge - The Blues Brothers soundtrack,which I've always considered almost unlistenable.Sigh.....let's see if Aretha will make my ears bleed again.I cranked up the volume and just could not believe what I was hearing.Aretha was fabulous!Put it back on track 1and thoroughly enjoyed the entire disc.Season of the Witch by Dr. John was just incredible,so many layers in that song and little percussion sounds.As jmolsberg said "holy smokes!"
I'm sure there are other dacs that can do this,that,and the other better(more sparkle,more bass,etc) but not everything better.You know how that goes - improve one aspect but lose another.I'm very glad I took a chance on the Tubadour.It was really difficult to choose what to try among the several well thought of R2R dacs.I actually was expecting to try two or three before discovering "the one".
