How old is too old for a Dac?

Hi Jond,
I gave very serious consideration to buying a used Audio Note DAC. At that particular time the then Yamamoto U.S.distributor (Venus HiFi) had been a longtime Audio Note dealer. He was extremely impressed with the new Yamamoto YDA-1 DAC. He told me that you’d have to get a AN level DAC 4.1 to equal the Yamamoto.

I trusted him and got the much less expensive YDA-1. I suspect that I’d been happy with the AN DAC as well. That was 8 years ago and I’m still very satisfied. Your mentioning the AN 3.1 Signature DAC brought back that episode. No doubt your AN DAC is terrific! I did install Duelund CAST output capacitors about 6 years ago. It went from excellent to superb 😊
Both companies pay much attention to the power supply and analog output stage quality. Both also avoid using opamps in their circuits (for the same explanation, no negative feedback wanted). Both DACs have stood the test of time.Jond I  don't believe that it's coincidence that both of these manufacturers also built SET amplifiers.  They applied the same principles to their respective DACs with obvious success. 
Charles

Charles,
Glad you chimed in and its pretty funny I wasn't looking for a new dac, love the YDA-1, and still do, I put what I thought was a silly low bid in on an auction here and was totally shocked when I won and had a new dac on the way! So I want to do a shootout, I love the AN dac its been in the system a few days, it sounds a lot like the YDA-1 with a touch more richness and a bit more sustain to notes and perhaps a bit more tone color. I haven't put the YDA-1 back in to compare yet, the AN is so physically deep I had to put it in my rack sideways and re-arrange cables,  so getting the YDA-1 back in will be a chore for this weekend. I hope I can really decide which is better but I've always lusted after AN so we shall see! Thanks for the kind words!

Jond,
Honestly either way you can’t go wrong. It was the tube aspect of the AN DAC that grabbed my interest às well as their reputation. I hadn’t considered Yamamoto until the Distributor expressed such enthusiasm. He was a fellow SET aficionado and had very good taste and ears. Anyway it worked out well for me.

The Yamamoto YDA-1 tubed version is likely closer in character to the tubed AN DAC. As you probably know,  6 Moons did a really fine comparison review of the two Yamamoto DACs (solid state and tube). The AN should be an excellent fit into your system. 
Charles

Jond,
This should be an enjoyable shootout and I am interested in your outcome. 
Charles 

Thanks to all of you for your input.

I'm considering getting something that will also see tandem duty music/HT use, such as the Marantz AV8802a. It uses the AKM AK4490 DAC, which I understand is pretty good. I'm a little concerned about getting a high cost unit like this... that is combining both pro/pre, as it can make upgrading later more costly.