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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
cerrot's avatar
cerrot
1,700 posts
 
a $32,000 DAC should sound like music.  a $1,000 DAC cannot.  
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cleeds
6,014 posts
 
cerrot
a $32,000 DAC should sound like music.  a $1,000 DAC cannot
I've heard quite a few sub-$1K DACs that "sound like music." For goodness sake, a used Theta Pro Basic can "sound like music."
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
time for a blind listening test

I am also going to launch a kickstarter to make balsa wood cabinets that look just like the Nagra DAC from a distance - you can stick your Dragonfly or iFi in there.
bigkidz
3,404 posts
 

czarivey
$26k monoblocks sounds more reasonable than $32k DAC, but still too much.

Not if you have a crap source going into the $26K mono blocks.  The DAC can be one of the most influencial component in your system.  What if the DAC gave you a huge soundstage with space and air around vocals and instruments, had a tone you never heard before where each instrument was capture perfectly, 3D sound, macro/micro dynamic swings with ease, tone, tone and more tone to die for, etc., something you never heard before, would that be worth the cost?

Happy Listening. 
bigkidz
3,404 posts
 
What is the source????   The Lamms won't do anything that they are not fed.  What's the preamp the BAT with the 6H30 tube?  Look at the speakers, can they reproduce what the Lamm amps can deliver?  Just plopping in a high priced component does not necessarily make a system sound better.  What is the reviewer trying to say with his article?  I don't get what he expected to hear.  If I had a pair of PC speakers with the Lamm amps, what would I expect to hear a life like performance?  Come on!  What's a big boy amp?  Are there big boy speakers?  Musically with a flea-watt amp - WHAT???

The Lamms didn't bring out every tiny nuance—a surprise, as I expect amps costing this much to do everything perfectly—but boy, are they musical! In that way, they deviate from the stereotype of a big-boy amp: You expect such things to sound impressive and precise, but if you want musicality, aren't you supposed to turn to some flea-watt amp, maybe made in some Japanese boutique?
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