musician aquarius r2r dac any good?

@auroravengeance

I appreciate your additional comments.In what I consider not inexpensive but reasonable price with reported high performance value are

Abbas DAC 2/3/4 SE models.

Lab-12 DAC Reference

Merason DAC1

Musetec 005

These are all highly regarded for both high resolution and yet remaining very natural sounding. Not easy to pull off.

Charles

@viethluu ,just a thought. if you do not mind... You wrote ’But, I am looking for some DAC that can get close to the Bartok’ characteristic.’

I believe that it will be very hard to find some dac in that price range that you have mentioned (3-5tusd) that will give you what you seek (if Bartok is your reference) so, I wonder, why dont you try some DCS of previous generation, like Puccini or perhaps Debussy?

They are, indeed, still very capable players and despite the ’hype’ that every new stuff is marketed, I do not believe that new dacs in 3-5tusd range can ’beat’ them

I had Puccini with the clock and have heard some new dacs (ps audio, ayre and some others) in even higher price range from one that you are looking for and Imho they were not in the same league (personally I prefer cd players still and have Burmester 089, which has some traits that I like better than Dcs, but on the other hand, some things Dcs Puccini does better) You may find next link informative and there is also a part where Dcs people share their opinion about r2r dacs

I have the Musetec 005 that is mentioned above. I am a huge fan boy of that unit. I lent it to my friend for a month and he did not like it for the gear he was testing it with, the RAAL SR1a + CA-1a headphones and VM-1a amp.

I love the 005 with my 2-channel speakers (incredible sound) but once got the unit back I also started listening with my VM-1a. SR1a, and CA-1a and it was not good at all. My Benchmark DAC3B is so much better with this headphone gear.

It is all about synergy.

I love the 005 with my 2-channel speakers (incredible sound) but once got the unit back I also started listening with my VM-1a. SR1a, and CA-1a and it was not good at all. My Benchmark DAC3B is so much better with this headphone gear.

“It is all about synergy”

I believe that most can appreciate and accept the consequences of synergy. This seems to be an extreme example. Why does this DAC’s performance vary so markedly between speaker and headphone usage?
Charles

The VM-1a has 7 tubes and works ONLY with the 2 headphones I listed. I generally do not like tubes, but there are exceptions. With the Benchmark DAC3B, the sound is incredibly detailed, fast, and rivals the very best sound I have heard from ANY system (no room to contend with).

The CA-1a sounds like headphones on steroids, while the SR1a (called ear speakers) sounds like speakers attached to your ears. Stereophile will review the amp soon. I hope they use a very neutral DAC like the DAC3B.

With the Musetec 005 the sparkle on top is just not there relative to the DAC3B. If I did not have the DAC3B I may have been content with the VM-1a and 005 pairing but I lucked out hearing the DAC3B with the VM-1a.

Today I replaced, my CODA 07x preamp and put in the Benchmark LA4 preamp + Benchmark AHB2 monos + Musetec 005. Just stunning. Better than the DAC3B in this stack. I have to decide on some gear pairings for my office and this will be the final setup.

For my Livingroom I will get a second Musetec 005 + CODA 07x preamp + KRELL 175XD amp. I may sell the 07x to buy a second LA4.