Although maybe a little low rent from a price perspective given your budget and some of the other excellent DACs mentioned above, I’d recommend trying one of Bel Canto’s legacy eOne DACs from their 3 series with outboard power supply. I had the DAC3VB (with external Virtual Battery Supply ((VBS)) included) in my system on extended demo a while back and found its performance to be near flawless as far as I could tell. It managed that much sought-after (but rarely achieved) ability in digital products to present a high level of detail, tone, 3D imaging, space, and palpability in a highly coherent, natural, and effortlessly believable way. I got to compare it directly to the base DAC3 without the external power supply, and as good as the DAC3 is — and it is very good indeed — the external power supply takes it to a higher level entirely. In fact, despite a new wave of excellent DACs now on the market, I’m now contemplating buying a used DAC3.xVB myself not only for its outstanding DAC performance but also for its completely transparent preamplifier section as I look to simplify my current system.
When I auditioned the DAC3VB in my system I had a Bryston BP6 preamp that remains the most complete embodiment of straight wire with gain I’ve heard from any electronic component — a true clear window on a performance. Almost as an afterthought, and certainly not expecting much, I compared the DAC3VB as a DAC only with my preamp as well as with the DAC operating with its own preamp alone. I was shocked and stunned. After much switching between the DAC’s pre and my $2500 uber-transparent Bryston I could discern absolutely no sonic difference between them. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. In fact, if the BC DAC had a balance control, which I needed at the time, I would’ve sold my BP6 and happily bought the DAC3VB.
The reason I dedicated a paragraph to the preamp performance is that many reviews I read of other DACs with a volume control often find the preamp performance in some way compromises the resulting sound versus using a good separate stereo preamp. That the DAC3VB can successfully pull off the straight-wire-with-gain transparency test I think is pretty remarkable, especially at its relatively reasonable original retail price. Assuming the DAC3.7VB (with the improved VBL power supply) is an improvement over the older DAC3VB as it benefits from trickle-down technology from the pricier BC Black series, being able to purchase that unit used for under $3000 would get a big recommendation from me for a DAC/pre unit. And, as a bonus, if it doesn’t knock your socks off you can likely sell it for little/no loss given the relatively liquid used market for BC products.
If the DAC3.xVB option is too low rent, there’s also the newer BC e1X DAC/pre that likely embodies more of the flagship Black series technology and design and ups the ante to $6500. As I found the external power supply to be so profoundly beneficial to the eOne DACs, I’m curious as to how the power supply issue is addressed in the one-box e1X. Also, as I’ve not heard nor seen any reviews of the e1X and really know nothing of it I’m not as comfortable recommending it despite it possibly being an improvement over the older models.
Holy crap, I did NOT set out for this to be so long, so my apologies for blabbing but hope this is at least somewhat useful. Best of luck.
