Krell KID vs. Wadia i170.

How can an analog signal from a simple Ipod be better than the it's digital signal converted to analog through a high quality D/A converter? How good the Krell might be, the bottleneck is still the Ipod derived analog signal. The built in DAC inside the Ipod is quite good (Wolfson?), but of course an external high quality D/A converter is still better (better power supply, better internal parts, etc.).

Chris

I just added a Siltech digital cable to the Wadia/Reimyo set-up - just great! - the CDP777 is gone...

Wadia i170 just got a review from HiFi Critic (add-free mag from the UK run by Martin Colloms). A very, very bad one.

I just found a review for the Bose soundock, not the Wadia one - but in my search I found some other reviews (all positive) atother UK magazines.

12-12-08: Dazzdax
"How can an analog signal from a simple Ipod be better than the it's digital signal converted to analog through a high quality D/A converter?I How good the Krell might be, the bottleneck is still the Ipod derived analog signal. The built in DAC inside the Ipod is quite good (Wolfson?), but of course an external high quality D/A converter is still better (better power supply, better internal parts, etc.)."

I trust my ears !the Krell is still better against Wadia 170 after 2 months of listening.The Krell KID should be connected with XLR connection wich i prefer against RCA.The Krell KID DOES NOT SOUND GOOD if connected straight to amplifiers so it needs a very good preamp.LOCK the volume control of the KID.The worst connection is RCA straight to amps.I dont know exactly how Kid reads the Ipod signal,i tried to find technical papers but didnt succeed.Its not as simple as just reading the dac, the KID takes command over all iPOD functions.The result is by all audiophile criteria an overall better sound quality against Wadia.
KID +xlr+preamp= huge soundstage very colourfull(TUBELIKE)
very detailed 3 dimensional.I use MAC /I tunes/ Wav files /Apple Classic 160Gb.
(Krell Kid,Wadia 170i,Krell Kps25sc 24/96 ,CAST,Krell 350mc,
Audiophysik MedeaII)