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Need Balanced DAC with optical and coaxial inputs for 2 channel home theater system

For my 2 channel home theater system (only), I am considering replacing my Musical Fidelity M1 DAC A with a better sounding DAC.  My needed inputs are one cable box using optical and one Sony Blu-ray player using coaxial.  I need balanced outputs (XLR) to connect the DAC to my Ayre AX-7e integrated amplifier.
  

The Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2 ($1,500) and the Parasound Zdac DAC ($2,500) are on my review list.  Any comments on these units?  Or, what other DAC's should I add to my list?   Considering my two input sources, will I really get better sound if I replace the Musical Fidelity M1 A DAC?

The sound quality using the Musical Fidelity M1 DAC is much better than than using the cable box RCA outputs direct to the Ayre AX-7e amp (my system is wired using both options using the source switch on the M1 DAC).  

Since the Parasound Zdac v.2 DAC is priced at $2,500 that is my top budget but I really prefer to keep the cost under $2,000.  Your comments and suggestions are appreciated.


hgeifman
audioman2015
103 posts
 
If you like laid back,lush, and polite sound take a look at the Luxman DA-06.  A Japanese version can be had on Ebay for about $2800.  

I had the Nad M51 for a week to demo. There was a lot of good going for it but I thought it was not worth $2000 but definitely $1100 used. It is lacking in the lower frequencies and uses a switching power supply vs linear.  It easily bested my Oppo HA-1 but was no where close to my Lite Dac 60 that I modified heavily.  BTW, the Lite Dac was the best audio purchase I ever made. 
cal3713's avatar
cal3713
1,421 posts
 
A comment of limited help, perhaps.  Anyway, I have a PS Audio PWDII and really like it.  I haven't compared it to your other options, but they're going for between $1000 & $1500 and I really like mine.  I've only compared it to their award winning DSD, but actually preferred the PWD (enough to re-buy one).  I thought it sounded more natural, definitely a better fit for my system (coincident speakers/amps), other ears agreed.  In any case, with the DACs pushing down the price, they're a good deal right now.
cal3713's avatar
cal3713
1,421 posts
 
P.S. I’m in a similar two-channel w/ TV & movies (the last Kuro Plasma) situation. I run a macmini (usb), PS4 (optical), DirecTV (coax), & cd/dvd player (xlr coax) through mine. All are both audio and video sources. 
coli
291 posts
 
Get the Marantz av8801/2 used.
zipbang's avatar
zipbang
3 posts
 
I have the essence HDACC.

You can extract high resolution audio from blu-ray and DVD via the HDMI input and output.

As a stand alone DAC, I am very impressed with the sound quality.

That said, there are no returns or refunds as all sales are final. The unit will be replaced for warranty issues only. 
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