Maverick Audio TubeMagic D2 DAC

Has anyone had the opportunity to compare directly a Mav D2 with a Grant Fidelity DAC-11?

Strateahed so far is the only one who could answer that question. I can't believe he is using a Modwright Oppo BDP-83 as transport for the D1. Damn that is serious money for a transport. I'm very surprised a modded Maverick Audio TubeMagic D1 could be preferred over a Modwright Oppo.

Jedinite24 you're right ... that was my sentiment exactly. I was surprised myself. But I had to go back and forth to between the D1 and Modwright BDP-83 to finally settle on the D1 for Redbook. (I'm listening to some Duke Ellington on the D1 right now) In between, I took out a few LP's that share titles with my CD's, synced those up and came to the same conclusion. The Oppo is stellar on SACD and does great on movies. The MW Oppo is also modified across the front array (L/C/R), in addition to stereo. So it produces a nice wall of sound when switched to 5.1 SACD priority to play multichannel discs.

As far as comparisons with the MHDT Paradisea and the Havana ... I had the Paradisea in for about 30 days and used that with my old TRL Sony. Did a few tube rolls, but was never convinced it was better than the Sony. Different yes (because of the tube), but not an improvement. I wanted to see (hear) what the hype was about at the time. Since it had been purchased used for a pretty good price, I was able to sell it quickly and came out about even.

It took the better part of a day with the D1 and the Havana with both chassis opened in order to switch tubes back and forth, while keeping everything else consistent ... same I/C's and PC's (got some old Signal Cable and Volex on hand). Again, the D1 came out on top. I sold the Havana and no longer wondered if I was missing out on something.

The only other DAC that I really wanted to try, but did not pull the trigger was the Eastern Electric Minimax. Right now I'm pretty satisfied with my system and don't feel the need to change anything. I know, I know ... should probably be drummed out of the hobby!

Interesting to hear your opinion on feeding this DAC with Squeezebox directly through optical cable.

Sorry the lastpass auto fill does not work properly on iPad.

What I meant to say,

I bought a D1 as amp for my headphone but later used it as DAC for my music system (SB3, exposure 2010s, Harbeth 7). I am pretty happy with it, definitely better than the DAC inside SB. Now I still need a dedicated DAC as otherwise I can not used my headphone properly. So I may just get a D2 as you can not really beat the price of it.