I have been asked by a family member to help choose a new DAC as a birthday gift. ( wish my wife was as generous ). My sister in law is looking for an R2R Dac; preferably tube based. The only kicker is she wants a smaller size. Her price range 3-5 thousand dollars. I haven't been down this rabbit hole for a while and wonder if there are any suggestions I could share with her.
Nice present. Yesterday was my birthday and my wife gave me $1000.00 in cash. After I blew out the two candles she took the money back and said that she would keep it because I lose everything. How can I rebut that one? No, honey.. I haven’t lost my 108 pound integrated amplifier… Nope can’t counter her logic.
Love my May Holo DAC KTE… very musical… Not tube based, but my integrated has a tube preamp and my sound is very much like my analog.
No experience with them but definitely on my list to try out: Audio Note kits. How "tubey" do you want your R2R DAC? They have tube rectification and output. You can also get a prebuilt unit.
2 weeks new to my system. Customer service is outstanding. It’s a big upgrade from the NODE’s DAC. The supplied tubes after 200 hrs is a tiny bit harsh on the high end, but I’ve got some 50’s era Mullard’s coming from Brent Jesse, and that’s the point; if you don’t care to roll tubes, buy solid-state. On sale for $900 right now with an in-home no risk trial.
Too bad size is a factor. LAB 12 DAC 1 Reference is a great sounding DAC. In June I can trade mine up for a DAC twice the cost but it sounds so good I think I'm keeping it. Great sounding DAC.
You just described, to a tee.......The Audio Mirror Tubadour SE....A FANTASTIC and Musical Tube based..R2R .zero feedback...$3500 smallish piece of Magic. I Love Mine !
It may limit the selection if it has to be small and tube based. I guess the form factor is more important and will just give some ideas of smaller dac's.
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