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Best path to upgrade my source

I am a new start up in the stereo world. At present I have an Audible Illusions pre, 200 watt tube mono's, dynaudio 1.3 mk 11'S, and a highly modded marantz cd67se. I would like to upgrade the front end source. I am on a tight budget, and I'm considering either a Benchmark dac1 or Naim cdi or meridian 506. I prefer acoustic, soft jazz, and mild rock and roll. My listening habits revolve around detail and immediacy as my 53 year old ears have heard better. Any suggestions?
optimationman
melm
1,074 posts
 
Anthony,

Aside from the general proposition that ANY component may benefit from a better power supply, do you have any information suggesting that the power supply of the Lavry DA-10 is inadequate? How does the Lavry "suffer"? Have you auditioned one? If you have any real information or experience please share it with us.
ajahu
306 posts
 
Try Altman dac. That is a wonderful component at a very low price. This is probably the most lifelike sounding dac I have ever heard.
bartokfan
664 posts
 
ck out the Consonance Droplet.
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
the company provided a demo of the dac for members of our audio club. i would say that based upon my listening, the dac is slightly imbalanced, with a little more energy in the upper mids/lower treble.

a better choice might by the cal labs alpha dac. you could experiment with tubes and perhaps alter the sound.
undertow
1,033 posts
 
Benchmark might compete with the original Lite DAC-Ah, but not the new one with the good Opamps, it is a whole different unit A-B tested... By the way as mentioned above its hard to justify the 1000.00 price tag for the benchmark vs. the Dac-ah in the first place, but I bet the Modified Dac-ah for 220.00 is a no brainer, it was vs. my 5000.00 player which is now long sold off.
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