APL NWO2.5 ?

Every APL DAC board has the version printed on it. The designer can read the revision . Bottom line is that version 14 is the best so far and it does not cost arm and leg to upgrade any Denon version to the latest. This version 14 is the final AK4396 DAC PCB. There will not be any further upgrades using this particular DAC chip. Eventual future upgrades will be acomplished using a different DAC chip for which different hardware and software will be designed. We can not determine the used value of any Denon version. The value is being determined by the actual market and the demand.

Tavd, Thanks for the heads-up...

Aolmrd1241, we are talking about Printed Circuit Board versions of the DAC, not “modification versions”. Each of the DAC PCB versions was designed in order to accommodate new technologies available for improved digital signal processing. All APL products using tube output are completely re-engineered digital players from the power supply to the outputs using just the transport and the enclosure from the stock player. The original circuits are completely removed or bypassed.

Oh my goodness! I understand from my reading that the AKM Dac's were better than my Burr-Brown, but my player sounds fantastic! What I'm wondering is, will the better player(i.e., AKM's) make poorer recordings sound slightly better, or, just in comparison, the good recordings sound obviously better with the better player(i.e., AKM Dac's). In the latter case, it might not be quite as important-you know what I mean?

Mmakshak:
Having had both the Crystal DACs and the AKM DAC's - (probably about revision 7 on the "Rainwater scale"), my experience has been that after they break in, the AKM's are significantly, noticeably better on well-recorded music. More detail, slightly greater range and a more pleasing presentation. As far as poorly-recorded music, "garbage-in" is still going to result in "garbage-out" IMHO, no matter what player you use. The AKMs are just more revealing and I am definitely glad I did the upgrade.