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Just wondering...

Sorry about the poor choice for the title but I just couldn’t compress my question into only a few words. I’ve been watching A’gon to find a good deal for a decent DAC in the $1K price range to improve my CD listening experience. As I look through the listings, I see DACs priced in tens of thousands - saw a Boulder 2020 with retail price of $32K listed for $15K. Probably an awesome bargain for somebody. To some degree I can understand speakers selling for crazy prices partly justified by their sound as well as their "furniture" value. I’m also sure a $20K pair of speakers will still sound incredible ten years from now. I can even sort of get amplifiers being a little crazy in price but they seem to last forever, at least technology-wise. I’m still loving my 35 year old McIntosh amp but can’t imagine using the same DAC even three or five years from now. What am I missing? Can a $32K DAC sound that different from a $1K DAC?

128x128kalali
jafant's avatar
jafant
19,902 posts
 
I would like to think that a DAC or CDP costing substantially more than entry -level, performs better (sounds better).
czarivey
5,946 posts
 
If $32k DAC is enclosed onto the marble chassis, it doesn't mean that it will sound better than one enclosed in metal one.
High End home audio is extremely dishonest business and it's blown like a soap bubble. $32k DAC is more boutique than professional similar to designer boutique wear or shoes. Same applies to everything else in high-end audio.

dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,190 posts
 
Hi kalali,

If the question is, "Is an ultra-expensive DAC a good investment considering the rapid advancements in digital technology?" The answer, even among those wealthy enough to afford them, would be a firm "NO" if they continually chase the latest digital technology. Just take a look at the selling prices of past high $$ DACs/digital players. However, many of those owners have no thoughts of "upgrading" their older TOTL players/DACs either, so the VALUE is relative to the period of ownership satisfaction.

If it is your priority to be an early-adopter of digital technology advancements, then it certainly is wise to look to products like Oppo that are relatively inexpensive and hold their value well upon resale. Heck, many owners of the Oppo 103/105 units are already chomping at the bit (pun intended) to "upgrade" to the new 203/205. Why? Because the new model has X times more theoretical processor speed than the last model, even though the budget power supply in the 103/105 limits their sonic performance, not the audio D-to-A section? The just-released 203 model proves the point superbly. Designed to outperform Panasonic, not Esoteric.

However, if you look at some of the best SACD-capable digital players/DACs of the past five years, they still deliver SOTA sound in any real-life audio system. Again, the best models had superior power supply/filtering/regulation that differentiates them sonically from the latest less-expensive models with higher bit rate D-to-A chipsets but lesser power supply quality. Obviously, what makes the newer products superior for those using music servers/laptops/etc as a source is their connectivity flexibility and that is not to be disputed.

Best to you kalali,
Dave
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

I think czarivey is correct, to a point. There are definitely some things on the $32K level equipment that are aimed more at luxery level rich people. However, the more expensive DACs do have elements that sound better.  That being said, there's always a point of diminishing returns where you are paying a LOT more for a LITTLE bit of improvement.

For those of us who can hear differences, things like "quality of power supply, power filtering, power regulation, etc " (what dlcockrum said) become very important. Also, a brand-new DAC is not necessarily going to sound better than a 3-5 year old DAC. It entirely depends on internal components. For example, I continued to listen to a 15 year old Krell HTS (processor/DAC) using lo-res DolbyDigital/DTS because this still sounded better than new TrueHD/DTS-MA processors (even though it was hi-res audio through HDMI). I tried several processors and only was satisfied with the newer Krell 1200U. I am partial to the Krell sound (I don’t like laid back sound), but it is just an example.

ejr1953
918 posts
 
kalali,
For the last 4-5 years I pursued my system upgrades and find that the best sound comes from components and accessories which work well together.  Having said that, I think that having better quality earlier in the process is a good thing, so spending more on a DAC might be better than spending more on the "down line" components.
I had my eyes opened to what a better DAC could do, when I dipped my toe into the "higher end", buying my first SACD player, whose internal DAC made my regular CDs sound better, capturing much more detail than I ever knew was on those CDs.
About two years ago I bought a stand alone DAC (PS Audio DirectStream DAC), and that unit still puts a smile on my face.
As for the price, to say a $32k DAC is "worth the price", only you can make that judgement.
One thing I've found, shopping on Audiogon, is that there are people out there who seem to like to try new things, do so for a few months, then offer them on the site, where you can snag some good values.  I've bought a few things that way, and haven't been disappointed.
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