Have you looked at the McIntosh D100 Dac/Pre?
Had the chance to audition one and it was very impressive.
I'm not sure if it's worth the $2.5K list, but it was very nice.
I recently went the other way, and picked up a ZDac on closeout for $300.00. Running balanced through an Ayre it's quiet and puts out a nice soundstage with good bass. They do run warm, and some have complained that they are prone to outputting a hum when running unbalanced.
The D100 is definitely better, but at slightly more than 8.3 times the cost. If I had the budget, the D100 along with the PS Audio MWII would definitely be on my shortlist.
Had the chance to audition one and it was very impressive.
I'm not sure if it's worth the $2.5K list, but it was very nice.
I recently went the other way, and picked up a ZDac on closeout for $300.00. Running balanced through an Ayre it's quiet and puts out a nice soundstage with good bass. They do run warm, and some have complained that they are prone to outputting a hum when running unbalanced.
The D100 is definitely better, but at slightly more than 8.3 times the cost. If I had the budget, the D100 along with the PS Audio MWII would definitely be on my shortlist.