Chord Dave - Missing soundstage width


Hi I am in the process of evaluating the Chord Dave.I have a Orchid dac and to my ears it has a wider soundstage than the Dave, but in every other aspect the Dave is the clear winner.
The Dave has height, depth and a way to make you feel that you are there. but not much sound outside the speaker boundaries.
Is my observation correct or does my system suck (;
Equipment: Primaluna HP integrated EL34 tubes. Tekton Design DI, A well treated room.Streaming with Tidal HIFI/Master
martin-andersen
Hi martin-andersen, I strongly recommend that before you change anything else in your system, please try with speaker positioning.
I experienced a similar problem with two different Dacs. The cheaper one produced a huge soundstage while the 3x more expensive was disappointing in this regard. I blamed the source, the cables (usb and XLR IC, speakers cables), etc. I tried everything but the soundstage was still narrower.
Short story, I finally found that changing the speaker positing (separation between speakers, distance from the wall and less toe in) gave me the soundstage I was looking for.
At this point I realize that the speaker were perfectly set for my previous DAC sound (cheaper one), but it was not the perfect setup for the new higher end DAC.
Also keep in mind that the Orchid could have a more forward presentation, that can be perceived as a bigger soundstage compared to a more high end DAC that needs to be a bit more laid back in order to produce layers of sound, depth, precise imaging, natural and organic sound. Maybe that is the reason why you perceive the Dave is the winner in every aspect except the soundstage. My advice, let your brain and ears get used to the Dave sound and play with your speaker positioning. Also keep in mind that Dave is an outstanding DAC, which deserves high quality component to really shine. 
Please let us know what are you using actually as a source to the Dave, which cables are involved between the source and the DAC, and the cables you are using as interconnect to your amplifier. Speaker cables too.
There could be a weak point also there. 
What what are using for a streamer & a digital cable (USB or coax, etc)? What power cable are you currently using for the Dave DAC and all your other equipments? And what kind of AC power product do you have for your setup? 
All these factors will be crucial.

You say you are evaluating. Could it be that the Dave is not yet "burnt in?"
Some real good advices here!

the amplifier can change things dramatically. I personally have a Line magnetic 845 premium on cube audio nenuphar. The sound stage is bigger than my room boundaries itself! Both The back and side walls with pin point precision and separation. I have also assisted things with SR HFTs. I thought they are complete snake oil but my curiosity led me to try them and discover they can act like adjustment points on a projector screen somehow.

Also, speaker placement and amount of toe in could be crucial. This needs to be adjusted once a new amp or a new dac has been introduced.

I have heard the dave mutiple times in my system vs denafrips terminator previosuly, then against my latest dac; Rockna wavedream signature. The dave certainly can throw a sound stage outside the boundaries of speakers, i have witnessed that. But i noticed it was less in width than both terminator and rockna. However, the dave always had more depth. 

After a recent comparison (have few friends who own a dave thus i get to witness such comparisons easily), its quite impressive with its depth, clarity (over all spectrum including impressive bass details), vocal separation from rest of music, but to me there is something sterile and emotion-less in the dave (dave is highly sensitive to power cord, it can literally tune it according to my friends) vs a high end r2r dac. There is no "better" here, i think its a matter of taste. My rockna is as technically capable regarding imaging /layering and 3d presentation maybe even superior, and its more dynamic for sure. more importantly its sounds more organic and real to my ears. Needless to say, the guy who owns the dave still preferred it. On the other hand, another friend with dave said my rockna has 10% more details, 20% more musical. Go figure!
The biggest challenge in our hobby is when we have to buy expensive things blind, its a good thing you got to try the dave before you buy it. Good luck making the right choice ))
Regarding tracks:  

Liberty from Annette Askvik - This track is one of the most amazing I have hear from an imaging perspective.  Make sure your room is quiet and you should hear width and depth.  

Be Still My Beating Heart from Sting - another amazing track that if your speaker placement is correct should deliver incredible width and portions of this song should come from over your right shoulder.  There is a version on Fields of Gold that I use.  

Blackbird from Sarah McLachlan -  On Disk 2 of the Essential Sarah McLachlan.  This track is overall lovely but there are bells/glockenspiel that comes in from the left side in the middle of the track that should almost make your turn your head to the left if things are set up correctly.