Theta Digital; that takes me back. Long ago when I began looking into DACs beyond those built into CD players it was the prices on those DACs that first blew me away. The only CasabIanca V that I see anywhere for sale is at Audiogon, but it’s like $5.5K more than I’d want to pay. I think it does have 8.1 channels when I need only 5.1, but I don’t know how much I’d save otherwise. I suppose that I could ask https://www.thetadigital.com/support/
Perhaps they could direct me to sources for 5.1 models and which might omit certain other features that I wouldn’t need and thereby minimize final cost. Presumably, it will work fine with DIRAC 3, which Kal Rubinson finds effective and easy to implement-while the DAC’s balanced and high output voltage will offset the software’s typical 20db gain loss. But how much for an overhaul on a 15 year old model? And the upgrades they offer must be terribly expensive. Total expense compared to the Exasound e38MK2?