Jeff Rowlands Amp and Dac vs. VAC amp and DAC


Hello, I am new to this forum but I have a question. I am trying to pair an amp + DAC with my Wilson Sabrinas. I have listened to Jeff Rowlands integrated with the Aeris DAC. And the VAC Sigma integrated with the Aeris DAC. Price is a factor and so is space. Does the 625 need a pre-amp? Any suggestions or thoughts? 
rinpoche
My suggestion about the proposed trade: Tell the dealer that before deciding you’d like to borrow the $6000 cables so that you can compare them in your own system to a 1 meter pair of Mogami Gold Studio, selling new for less than 2% of that amount. If she were to agree, and you do that, let us know the results.

Opinions will differ among different audiophiles as to the merits of the proposed trade, of course. But personally I’d no sooner trade my Porsche, which I love, for a pair of Nordost Odins :-)

Best,
-- Al

Porsche or Odin system  loom? This would actually be an intriguing proposition "only" if the Odin caused a stunningly transformative improvement in your system’s sound quality. Al, I’m mean genuinely astonishing / sublime effect of which you’ve never experienced. Quite the the hypothetical situation. ☺☺
Charles,
Yes wires worth that amount should trounce anything from Mogami. No way to know unless you try.        You could end up better financially by spending less on wires and investing that money elsewhere in your system down the road if needed.  

Its pretty senseless in my mind to drop a fortune on something based on retail price without any real basis for comparing its performance to other more affordable high quality options. 

We are headed in the wrong direction, I think. Whatever we say Rinpoche appears to return to one brand - Audioquest. Who can say why? Anyway, $6000 buys great used tube preamp, be it VAC or Lamm or something else. Or new Herron, as an example. No cable in any system is worth that much money until the system is complete. This one is not. Of course, if someone just must do it it's not really our business, but I certainly wouldn't be able to applaud it.

I can barely differentiate Vedic Sanskrit from Middle Persian, but one thing I am sure of. From slightly different perspectives four brands have been recommended to try first - Mogami, Purist Audio, Wireworld and Shunayata. Chances are that at least one of them would work really well, or perhaps all of them giving a little different presentations.