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Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Hi All.

Putting together a reference level system.
My Source is predominantly standard 16/44 played from a MacMini using iTunes and Amarra. Some of my music is purchased from iTunes and the rest is ripped from standard CD's.
For my tastes in music, my high def catalogues are still limited; so Redbook 16/44 will be my primary source for quite some time.

I'm not spending DCS or MSB money. But $15-20k retail is not out of the question.

Upsampling vs non-upsampling?
USB input vs SPDIF?

All opinions welcome.

And I know I need to hear them, but getting these ultra $$$ DAC's into your house for an audition ain't easy.

Looking for musical, emotional, engaging, accurate , with great dimension. Not looking for analytical and sterile.
mattnshilp
labtec
189 posts
 
It's amusing to read about SS amps that people claim are "tubelike" in a thread about DACs.

Why not just buy a tube amp and stop hoping to find a SS amp that comes close?

Steve Nugent's thoughts got people all excited, but maybe you guys missed the part about him actually USING a TUBE amp...not these other SS amps.  (Plus, he was previously using a John Curl designed SS amp that he further modified to extract performance, yet it STILL wasn't enough and now he uses tubes.)

To each his own, but, personally, I don't see why anyone would spend that kind of money on a class D amp or small company SS amp, when you could get an ARC Reference amp that will drive almost any speaker for the same price.

Odds are good that you will then laugh at all the SS amps futilely trying to duplicate that sound...plus have a ready resale market...lifetime service...and unparalleled pedigree.

Many SS amps sound really nice and even have tech specs that sound better on paper.  I use several myself, but, for ultimate sound quality, most people eventually return to tubes and not vice-versa for a reason.  
mattnshilp OP
917 posts
 
And the $60+K Roland 925 monoblocks are also not worth considering, just because they are class D. Or his new Daemon integrated, just because it's class D; even though both have won best in show awards and have incredible reviews from people with reliable ears?

thats like saying those new fangled gas powered car engines are just noise and smoke, I'll stick with my horse thank you very much!

My reference amp is class AB, but not because I don't believe class D can do what my Burmy's do. I have no doubt a class D amp can be designed to sound as good or better then my 911mk3's. I just haven't heard one YET. I keep an open mind and an open ear to all new tech. What's to lose? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. 

Your loss.....  There are some amazing class D amps out there. And some of them blow their equally priced class AB amps out of the water. 
mattnshilp OP
917 posts
 
Labtec - there's room in this world for solid state and tube lovers. We all enjoy our poison from different glasses. Doesn't make one better then the other. 
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 

Thank you LabTec, yes you are right... To each his own. I am delighted that you love all your tube and SS amps.


Personally, I do not seek amps that emulate the sound of anything in particular. I seek devices that instantiate the sound signature and musical concept that I have in mind.


Being essentially maintenance-free, not doubling as furnaces, and enjoying a stable performance without tube replacements, are also very desirable characteristics for me.


Today, a pair of Rowland M925 class D monos give me amazing nirvana... To a greater extent than most amps I have ever auditioned. Interestingly, they are highly reliable, are very efficient, and their performance remains stable over time. What more could I wish?! 


Tomorrow, I might discover amps that yield an even greater degree of enchantment. M925 might be replaced by some low or moderately biased class A/B amps, or I might still be with some class D device.... Class A and high powered tubed amps are unlikely to make the cut for the reasons mentioned above, but I do not exclude them apriori.


Bottom line is that I follow neither "the road less traveled" nor "the more traveled" one... Fact is that I could not care any less about the number of travellers on a road, and which topology "most people" return to... I only seek that which gives me audible joy, evaluating amps one at a time solely on their own particular merits,while keeping as open a mind as I can to the world around me.


G.

jh901
67 posts
 
Hi Matt- you will be auditioning the new EMM Labs DA2?  The DA2 (and the DAC2x) convert PCM to DSD, right?

Is the new Chord DAVE on your radar?

- Josh
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