@audio2design
How did a DAC that was way behind the times 30 years ago (TDA1541) magically become good?
As we know, the Philips TDA1541 and TDA1540 "16-bit" d/a chips were used in hundreds of different acclaimed CD players. It’s sonic signature is still considered to be "musical" to many. Some DAC designers went back to it, and so did a few diehards buying up the old CD players.
Last year I demo’d a topic shelf 24 bit perfect re-clocked studio DAC at 3x the cost, installed +high end coupling caps in my 16-bit MHDT Orchid (stock TDA1541a chip), +a really good tube. It wiped the floor in terms of enjoyability and musicality in my system. Same thing with a 16-bit Audio Note DAC. Could not listen to the highly acclaimed 24-bit perfect DAC for very long. Found it to be dry, boring, fake sounding, not engaging, YMMV.