Need help matching DAC to speakers and amp

Great advice, all. I find it very hard to trial equipment as most of the dealers near me have only a couple sources to try out.

I suppose my budget should "match" the relative price of my equipment....meaning I would not want to buy a $4,000 DAC nor a $300 one. Since DAC's are relatively new new me, I was guessing around the $1k mark.

I saw Musical Fidelity's Triple Threat tube DAC for sale and I thought it might fit the bill of what I was looking for: nice clean tube sound. My only reservation was that they have been discontinued.

The upgrade path of the internal DAC board was an obvious option at around $1k. I would also avoid having to buy interconnects. The one reservation I had with that option was that it seems the technology for DAC's is changing so rapidly that I would be better served by a more modern DAC release. Maybe you guys can help me out here.

Jeff, Neko Audio D100 fits your description perfectly. It uses Jensen transformers (no opamps) in the output path. A lot of people have heard it and it's a real bargain for the money. They even offer a free in-home 30 day trial. www.nekoaudio.com

I understand what you are trying to do. That said, you might mess up the way you are going about it here. First is with the pricing. Quite often, price plays absolutely no part with regards to sound quality. You might love something that cost a small fraction of what you were willing to pay or buy something really expensive that you will end up hating. You can look no further than my own system. I have somewhere around $25-30k in electronics for a pair of $2000 speakers. I made my choice based on results, not price.

Second, I feel its a big mistake to buy components to compensate for others. (Understand, though, very few people on this website would agree with me on this). If you bought an amp and speakers that come up short for you in some areas, I would recommend that you deal with that first before you move forward with other purchases. Let's say you decide keep the components, instead, and get some tube components and cables to balance the system out. It sounds like a very reasonable thing to do, but, in practice, is very difficult. Doing that is like buying an EQ with 1 setting. The worst part is that yo have no idea what that setting is until you buy the item, hook it up, and then cross your fingers when you listen and hope you guessed right. That's not all, either. Lets now say you get lucky and guess right and the system sounds pretty good (not at all likely, but maybe). Change 1 piece, and its likely that the whole system will fall apart because instead of buying neutral, you bought to compensate.

So, I still stand with my original recommendation. Listen to your amp and speakers and just take some time to see what you like or dislike about them before you jump into something new. If you don't have a DAC and you need to get something, I feel your safest bet is the card for you B100. If you end up selling it for some reason, it will go very quickly on Audiogon and for a good price.

op, you shouldn't feel the need to constrain yourself to equivalent priced dacs. I have Harbeth spkr, ayre integrated and linn klimax ds, and I don't think I could have spent my budget better given the size of my listening room and spkr amp requirements.

Wow, it is difficult for you to choose without listening. As we all know, you try something and it is right (and you got lucky) or it is wrong and you try something else. I have experience with the PS Audio DLIII and loved the warmth and "musicality" of it. I now have a Eastern Electric Tubed DAC and love it. They say the newer version is better. I suggest you buy used and try it in your system first. It's a pain, but it's the only way you'll know if it fits with your equipment. We've all done it. Everyone is looking for the next greatest thing, and the thing they don't like may be the perfect thing for you. Goodluck.