$30K DAC in a $70K system - wise or ridiculous?

I can only concur....

The "Linn Sondek" principle is pretty applicable - the most important component in your system is the source.

But... it makes little diffenece if the rest of your system is insufficient to take the signal it receives from that source and reproduce it as its presented by the source.

That said... the sound quality you hear is not always in proportion to the price of your system components - not even close. You can find a lot of components at a fraction of the price of the most expensive compenents that sound virtually as good, or better, than the "high priced spread."

And... most of those "giant killers" are typically produced by small, boutique shops, or smaller manufacturers that market directly to the consumer, of which there are many. And... some... are even kits, such as the Linkwitz Orion, or LX521, speakers which properly supported by the rest of the system can produce a sound that rivals any speaker available.

Another such component is the Schitt Yggdrasil DAC, which litteraly rivals any DAC made, at a fraction of the price.

These are just a couple of the "giant killer" components out there that allow the "average joe" to enjoy the sound equivalent to that produced by many "mega-buck" systems.

I have done this--Source first.  My Dac is a majority of my system.  Its superb.  But my Amp and speakers are 35 years old.  I have no regrets--its fabulous:  Roon>Unity Core>Meridian Ultra Dac>Krell KSA 80B>Apogee Scintilla One Ohms.  Audition your new choice to make sure its what you want.  

Imo 30k for a dac is a giant waste of money. There is remarkable equipment for a quarter that price. There is probably an 800 dollar one that sounds the same to your system. If i were to throw that money away i would save a life or give it to family. 

The Pacific is fabulous. I’d recommend going with the single ended version for ease of tube rolling. Happy to discuss any questions you may have - just shoot me a DM.

- Colin

LampizatOr dealer
https://gestalt.audio