Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Calvin, You are getting your wish! Lots of replies.

MusikMike (JazzPesh) of StereoMojo fame tipped me off to Bright Missippi years ago and I have all the Alain TOussaint CDs. LoL

I have also been pushing the idea of SD card as the perfect transport for years and this is technical info from an idustry insider who has been waiting for 1TB cards to be reasonably priced for years. That way he can carry his entire library in his top pocket!

SD cards are not as noisy as USB sticks and dont constatnatly rewrite data for optimization like HDDs and SSDs. Finally, they are used for high speed digital, so audio reporduction is trivial.

My problem with the Invicta Dac is that it is totally Sabre based and I dont think Sabre will ever be SoTA...very, very good, but not SoTA. My opinion only, and no offense.

Jeff Rowland lent the Vapor/Lampi/Resolution/Verastarr guys an amp at RMAF and spent a LOT of time in that room. Must have liked what he heard with that combo...

And reportedly that system at RMAF sounded far better with the Rowland amp than it did with the Lampizator tube amp that they originally used.

I believe that the Rowland amp that replaced the Lampi was the newly redesigned M625 S2. Same amp used in Jeff's own uber system at the Rowland factory which Matt listened to.

G.

Bill, I heard different reports.
I was told that the 211amps had tube damage and was taken out as they had no spares on hand.

I read great room feedback using BOTH amps.

See some feedback below at Audio circle:
My friend entered the room so I followed not overly interested as it wasn't on my "list".
In all honesty best sound.
This was the setup I heard (211 amps pictured).

Stereophile:
Stereophile kicks off our feedback with some nice observations from JVS.

Backed by mood lighting that continually changed color, albeit not in synch with musical content, LampizatOr North America partnered with a number of other companies to present a most imposing system. Thanks to room treatment from Resolution Acoustics, whose proprietor, Bart Andeer, specializes in custom-made acoustic panels tailored to unique listening environments, the system graced recordings by Frank Sinatra, Gillian Welch, and Beck with a beautifully even gorgeous midrange and lovely warmth.

Doing the honors were, when I listened, were Vapor Audio's Perfect Storm White loudspeakers ($45,000/pair), which were debuting in final form after shipping snafus at AXPONA), and Vapor Audio's Forge Aluminum rack ($5999); LampizatOr's Golden Gate Balanced DAC ($19,800), which made its world premiere, and LampizatOr's 211 Balanced mono tube amplifiers ($11,000/pair); a complete complement of Verastarr Grand Illusion cabling plus their Nemesis USB; VH Audio Plasmatron 3-tube power conditioner ($3999); Zen Wave Audio SurgeX SEQ power conditioner ($1999); and Resolution Acoustics room treatment (approx. $43,000 total). Note that Andeer is poised to relaunch Resolution Acoustics with exceedingly lower cost treatment that will make his services far more available to audiophiles who find the best of equipment and intentions sabotaged by nasty nodes of one sort or another.

Later in the show, the LamizatOr tube monoblocks were replaced by a big Jeff Rowland solid-state stereo amp. Alas, there were too many rooms I had to cover to allow a return visit.

Tyson (Acircle and AVShowrroms raved about the Rowland setup:

This room blew my mind. Quite simply put This was the best overall room again for me. I make special mention of the room treatments by Resolution Acoustics because this room had the best bass control, image focus, and dynamics I have heard at RMAF and I know a big part of that is the detailed work Resolution put into the treatment of the room. Other rooms like JTR did a great job of bass management, but didn't quite hit the mark on imaging or other factors. The Vapor system just did everything right. And scale was TREMENDOUS. I really feel like Vapor is the only 'top of the heap' price point company actually doing it right. All the mags are doing their readership a disservice for not touting these for the last 4-5 years.

and : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h4aMjm03hk&t=1626