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New DAC or New Streamer?

This should be fun. After I pay to get my amp upgraded at VAC next month  I plan to either upgrade my DAC or Streamer next. I should have enough for that by late spring/early summer. I'm retired so I save some each month until I have what I need. My system is in my user profile. But to keep this simple my current DAC is the Dinafrips Venus II I got a year ago. (I also have the Hermes DDC)

My streamer is the Cambridge CXN V2 via coax to the Hermes-> I2s -> DAC which is also 1 year old. I was just getting into streaming then and knew little about it. I have learned a lot this past year, a whole lot.

I think the bottle neck is leaning more toward the streamer. It seems the DAC is pretty good, I know there are much better DAC's out there but it holds it own I think. Maybe not? I cannot afford the likes of DCS, Lampizator, etc.

The next planned upgrades are a Terminator II DAC and Aurender N200 Streamer. Both are $5000-$6000. (Unless I go for the Terminator + DAC that is $7500 but I am not sure it is $2500 better than the Terminator II)

So, since both will get upgraded a year apart, which should I go for first? Which would provide the biggest upgrade?

Thanks. Happy holidays to all.

128x128fthompson251
kota1
2,706 posts
 

I just got the Sony Signature dac/pre/headphone amp for around $2K the, TA-Z1HES and highly recommend it. It has features that are proprietary to Sony and you can use a streamer of your choice as a transport. I have tried a Sony SACD/CD/blueray player as a transport, a bluesound node and an Onkyo DAP as a streamer. I would not spend much on a streamer which you will be essentially using as a transport, I would budget more for the dac and get that first. This review of the Sony will give you a good idea of the features and SQ:

 

curiousjim's avatar
curiousjim
4,261 posts
 

I’d go for a new streamer, like the N200, it’s an excellent choice,

but if you decide to go up the Denifrips ladder, I might be interested in the Venus ll.

😁

lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,113 posts
 

@fthompson251

I would definitely buy Aurender N200 first, ahead of your Venus II and later step up to Terminator II when funds permits. You’ve already optimized ethernet by way of ENO in your system so that’s one less thing you need to worry :-)

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