Have a recently purchased Musician Pegasus R2R dac for my exercise room system. Ampzilla mononblocks, Musical Fidelity X-Ray CD player (used as a transport), Black Ice F-360 preamp, Maze Audio Interconnects, and Silverline Sonata Sonata speakers. I had an excellent modded Aurilac Vega DAC dac the Musician replaced. The Musician is simply better. Huge soundstage, muscular sound, crystalline clarity is how I
DAC finalist please help
Hi all,
hope everyone is doing well this holiday season.
I’m back on the DAC hunt and I have narrowed down to these different but compelling DAC’s.
Unlike a lot of you guys on Audiogon I’m not a millionaire : ( My budget is only 1,500 bucks but I think there are some good choices in that range.
If any of you folks have experience with any of these pieces I would greatly appreciate your thoughts.
I’m replacing a McCormack DAC-1 that I have owned since new.
I still listen and continue to buy Redbook CD’s so something that would be kind to those is important.
I’m trying to make the determination on overall what would work and sound the best.
NOS with tubes is intriguing as is R2R as is just a good chip set.
I’m looking at a Aragon D2A used $600 for redbook playback and maybe teaming it up with a Xiangsheng 05B to handle modern formats DSD etc, less than 500 bucks the two together would be just north of a grand.
On the NOS front the Audio Mirror Tubadour III NOS w/tubes, new $1,500.
The Denafrips Ares II R2R used about 800 bucks, or the Musician - Pegasus, new around $1,100.
And then there is the Line Magnetic 502CA tube, used 700-800 dollars.
I love the look of the LM and it's got a great tube stage, I definitely have a bit of a crush on this one.
I realize I’m a little bit all over the Map here, but again if anyone has thoughts or has /had one of these DAC’s I’m all ears...Many thanks and Happy Holidays!HG
hope everyone is doing well this holiday season.
I’m back on the DAC hunt and I have narrowed down to these different but compelling DAC’s.
Unlike a lot of you guys on Audiogon I’m not a millionaire : ( My budget is only 1,500 bucks but I think there are some good choices in that range.
If any of you folks have experience with any of these pieces I would greatly appreciate your thoughts.
I’m replacing a McCormack DAC-1 that I have owned since new.
I still listen and continue to buy Redbook CD’s so something that would be kind to those is important.
I’m trying to make the determination on overall what would work and sound the best.
NOS with tubes is intriguing as is R2R as is just a good chip set.
I’m looking at a Aragon D2A used $600 for redbook playback and maybe teaming it up with a Xiangsheng 05B to handle modern formats DSD etc, less than 500 bucks the two together would be just north of a grand.
On the NOS front the Audio Mirror Tubadour III NOS w/tubes, new $1,500.
The Denafrips Ares II R2R used about 800 bucks, or the Musician - Pegasus, new around $1,100.
And then there is the Line Magnetic 502CA tube, used 700-800 dollars.
I love the look of the LM and it's got a great tube stage, I definitely have a bit of a crush on this one.
I realize I’m a little bit all over the Map here, but again if anyone has thoughts or has /had one of these DAC’s I’m all ears...Many thanks and Happy Holidays!HG
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- 58 posts total
would describe it. 1100 bucks for a superb dac. Disclaimer: there are many dacs out there that I have not heard. I am inclined to believe that there is some magic in the R2R technology. I have a Holo dac that I have yet to get operational. Finally, the Black Ice preamp is stunningly good. Spatially, it does things in a good way no other preamp has done. It grips the low end like a vise grip. Soundstage and clarity are superb. |
toronto jay is not the most articulate video reviewer on yt, but he is quite honest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH0MY044X8Q i think caution is called for... |
I was set to get the AM tubiedoor : ) But then they stopped returning e-mails. It's OK I saw some "under the hood" pics and no thanks, yikes. for now, just to get a taste of the whole NOS thing, I bought a VERY NICE bespoke little DAC. Built by a retired electrical engineer ( and patent holder) using a TDA1541A with Philips Forum 10th anniversary board. Still breaking it in but on the whole very nice. Tons of air and space and detail. As far as something for higher rates I am looking at maybe the Woo DAC or ??? Some of you will hate me but I just can't get past the clock radio look of the Mhtd products Maybe the Schiit??Many many thanks for ALL the useful info folks! |
@grossman616 i have vlad bazelkov's tubador dac as well as his set45 6c33c mono amps... they are both superb in their performance and value ... perhaps what the wiring looks like 'under the hood' isn't as neat as some, but the performance of his gear is absolutely top notch in my experience and he is there to support and answer questions - a true audiophile small scale designer/builder with excellent sonic sensibilities hope you have found what pleases you... |
- 58 posts total