Wadax Reference Dac and Reference Server--arrived in my room.

@chayro

it’s hard to give answers in purely price terms with analog, and performance is not that predictable relative to price. some vintage is not so expensive, and DIY efforts can make big differences. and the quality of the pressings of vinyl has more effect than the hardware. a modestly priced turntable set-up with the very best pressings easily surpasses any digital. but finding and buying the best pressings is a daunting task.

and on the digital side, price is a little more predictable, but maybe taste/preference is very significant. some listeners like tubed dacs, so this can influence preferences and price. a tube lover likely can find a cheaper dac that pleases. solid state IMHO has a higher ceiling of performance, but the best solid state dacs are expensive.

but if i had to come up with a number; i would say generally a $30k-$40k (new retail price) analog system (tt, arm, cart, phono) will surpass a $100k dac such as the MSB Select II with Taiko Extreme server, or dCS Vivaldi Apex stack....if the analog system is well set up and good analog sourced pressings (but maybe not the very best) are used. if the vinyl pressings are mostly modern digitally sourced pressings, then the result is unpredictable.

with vinyl the pressings are the limitation.

Very interesting! My reference for best audio reproduction has always been extremely top tier vinyl setups, based on my aural memory of them. In my case talking like  $100K+ total system value, in some systems this much on vinyl alone.

@mikelavigne  Your estimate of $30-40K is much lower than I had assumed previously. This either speaks a lot to vinyl and/or less than I thought digital capable of. Based on your estimates, goals for my present vinyl setup and future upgrades are closer than I thought.

Yep, the relative lack of software in general, and good pressings is the greatest limitation of vinyl for me as well. Streaming spoils one, what with the nearly limitless number of recordings available with just a few presses on controlling tablet.

I think to some extent it becomes a challenge to see how good can you get with digital, knowing full well it’s ultimate limitations. But Mike is absolutely right about the difficulties in finding good pressings. And if you’re shopping at Better Records or Electric Recording Company, that 30-40k swells up pretty quick. But I thought it would be interesting to hear from someone who actually plays at that level.  Thank you Mike. 

“i would say generally a $30k-$40k (new retail price) analog system (tt, arm, cart, phono) will surpass a $100k dac such as the MSB Select II with Taiko Extreme server, or dCS Vivaldi Apex stack”
@mikelavigne 

Would you please consider expanding on your comments…I am genuinely interested in learning what brand of TT, cart and phono at $40K would transcends a $100K in digital setup. Looking forward to your recommendations! 

G R E A T. 

Good on you. 

I wished you lived down the road so I could my wife over (checky to ask) and show her what I’d like to do with a built audio building.