very interesting comments everyone. Thanks for the input!
Shannere:
I actually tried the luxman dac 06. I compared that directly to the berkeley alpha 2 dac. They were actually very close but I preferred the berkeley by a hair as it was a little more musical in my opinion. It was the only dac in my opinion that came close to the berkeley alpha2 in the 5k price range. The biggest difference i noticed was that at higher volumes, the luxman was not as smooth and composed as t he berkeley. It sounded more digital at higher volumes near ~85db or so. Many people say the berk ref2 dac is on a totally different league than the alpha2 and similarly, the luxman d08u is completely on a new level than the other luxman digital products. I just never had the chance to audition these units in my system.
Photon: interesting that you mentioned marantz. I had a sa7s1 a few years back and it was very good. Very smooth, engaging, and sweet sounding. When I compared it to my berkely alpha2 dac, the berkeley imaged better and the images were much more pinpoint, albeit the size of the image was smaller. Mike at suncoast seems to be a great guy. He preferred the luxman d08u emphatically over the berkeley ref2 dac and stated that the only dac that sounds analog like the luxman d08u are the MSB dacs which i never heard and are very expensive. I am glad you love your luxman. Seems to me, there are very few disappointed luxman owners out there.
Shannere:
I actually tried the luxman dac 06. I compared that directly to the berkeley alpha 2 dac. They were actually very close but I preferred the berkeley by a hair as it was a little more musical in my opinion. It was the only dac in my opinion that came close to the berkeley alpha2 in the 5k price range. The biggest difference i noticed was that at higher volumes, the luxman was not as smooth and composed as t he berkeley. It sounded more digital at higher volumes near ~85db or so. Many people say the berk ref2 dac is on a totally different league than the alpha2 and similarly, the luxman d08u is completely on a new level than the other luxman digital products. I just never had the chance to audition these units in my system.
Photon: interesting that you mentioned marantz. I had a sa7s1 a few years back and it was very good. Very smooth, engaging, and sweet sounding. When I compared it to my berkely alpha2 dac, the berkeley imaged better and the images were much more pinpoint, albeit the size of the image was smaller. Mike at suncoast seems to be a great guy. He preferred the luxman d08u emphatically over the berkeley ref2 dac and stated that the only dac that sounds analog like the luxman d08u are the MSB dacs which i never heard and are very expensive. I am glad you love your luxman. Seems to me, there are very few disappointed luxman owners out there.