PS audio new 25K dac and the psychological effect of owning a company's best.


I was purchasing some hi-res files from NativeDSD today and found mention of PS Audio’s Obsidian Ted Smith Signature Dac ($25K) in their compatibility excel table scheduled to be released in 2021. I am the owner of their Direct stream DAC and DSD memory player and I immediately thought that I would never spend 25K on a DAC. I also thought that now I can have their best so why to stay with the brand. This might be my personal bias but I was wondering if this has an effect on anyone else. Is owning the top-of-line of any brand important to you and would you leave a brand if you were priced out of the market?
rufusluna
I enjoyed my Direct Steam Dac with all the latest updates for quite a few years.
However, I sold it to help pay for a Lumin X1. The Lumin X1 is multiples better in sound quality!
So, there is lots of room for sound quality improvement over the Direct Stream Dac.

ozzy

If you  wanna splurge....Get a Rockna  wavedream   with an accompanying server, about as good as it gets. Change the crossovers in your speakers for some Duelunds, replace capacitors in your amps( Again Duelunds tin plated copper foil), change fuses for  wax filled ones etc. 
DACs are 1 part of the chain, but everything needs to be sorted out to get the best sound in your setup.  
Make sure when you book appointment to audition have both dacs ( Flagship vs Direct stream) on hopefully they are same voltage out bring your goto music test tracks. Find a comfortable volume level on preamp. Tell salesman to queue up first dac and then second. Try a few times back and forth if you want not knowing which dac is playing. You may need a cloth to cover the front displays. Go with the one that you like best. But if you choose the $25k one get your credit card ready! 😆
25K
any audio piece over 2K is inflated pricing. 
  Parts, time to machine the cases, etc, is all relavent, but to add 10K to any piece is just robbery. 
I purchased a PS Audio Powerplant P10 when it was their top of the line regenerator.  I remember it being around $ 5K.   It sucked the life out of my amplifiers, there are also several settings that dramatically change the sonic signature- I can't really find one that sounds neutral, and now it has been supplanted by several models that cost a lot more.  Obviously I'm not a fan of their regenerators.

I also purchased a PS Audio Noise Harvester for $ 100.  Amazing gadget.  I now have 10-12 in and around my system.  The more I add the better the effect.  I would buy more if I had more outlets.  And yes I have 5 in the P10 and they do help with background noise in the P10 which I use for my digital gear.

The moral is you don't always have to spend top dollar to get a companies best product.