Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Agree with you Matt.  I LOVE my Ayre QX5/20.  It really is a great DAC, but I'm under no illusions that it's better than the TotalDac and many of the other 18k plus DAC's. It does, for my ears beat a couple of the 18k plus DAC's though, but I'll keep that off line in convo's with you, LOL.....Matt, you have found your nirvana DAC.  That said, it's a great thread and you are still bringing in a lot of the 8-18k DAC's.  You should add the Ayre as well as the Brinkmann DAC's.  I heard the Brinkmann and I don't remember if I told you about it, but it's a really nice unit.  Like the Ayre, very very musical and plenty of the micro and macro detail that both companies are known for.  I think both hit well above their price ranges. Totally different design as the Ayre is still a whole digital front end (pray folks never use a DAC as a pre amp though) and the Brinkmann is just a great DAC so you'd still need a streamer for you Tidal or Pandora etc...  I'd love to see how close to the TotalDAC it could be.  Or even the ODSX (wish that was a remote as I would have done the upgrade when Steve had it in to work on), but I needed remote with my MS and having a family who uses the system. 

I'd be sure and try out a Yggy

Not even close to the same ball park of the DAC's being discussed in this thread Randy. It's a nice DAC for the price and should be put up against the Ayre Codex and some others in that range, but it's just not what this thread is about.  Takes nothing away from a nice DAC for it's price range though.

Many say otherwise.

That is why he needs to try one blind and hear for himself.  Never dismiss a product based on its price.

While I agree one should not dismiss a product based on its price, you hardly ever see anyone hook up a $1000 component to a $20000 piece in a given system and perform a blind listening test. Similarly, there are a lot of disappointed shoppers who bring home a component that sounded incredible at the dealer showroom and find that it sounds like crap in their system at home. Folks usually buy what's at the extreme of their budget and generally speaking the more you pay the better the sound.