DAC to add warmth and fullness to Linn Ikemi

Having heard the Ikemi (and liked it very much) I am sure that the Apogee Mini-
DAC as well as the Kora Hermes would provide similar detail.

Since your budget appears to have swollen overnight, Frank115, I'll add one
more unit to the list: the Stellavox ST2. Although I have not done a back-to-
back comparison (one is coming soon), I am pretty sure it is the highest-
resolution DAC I've yet to hear in my system.

another approach, you use 3 separate cable brands, Chord and Nordost are on the lean "cold" side, either make it full Cardas or use one Stealth Nanofiber or of course change DAC, but maybe with the same results.

Be cautious with trying to impact sound attributes too much with cables. The idea of significantly warming up the sound of your system with a single cable switch is very likely to resutl in other trade-offs. While cables can and certainly do contribute to the sound characteristics of a system, a single cable switch out that takes the whole system sound in a new direction is suspect in my mind.

Case in point, in a recent CDP purchase, I was a bit concerned as I was installing a new CDP for one that is notoriously warm and may end up too bright. The dealer suggested I may want to have a pair of balanced Cardas Golden Cross cables on hand - so I bought a pair. As it turned out, I didn't need them but I tried them anyway. They sure warmed up my sound, too much and my bass fell apart completely. Resolution dropped significantly. They did do what I was told they would, warmed up my sound but at a steep cost everywhere else. My point is that adding a little bit of warmth, especially when replacing a bright tending cable is onething, but adding too much of anything with a cable change should be done very carefully.

Kops idea of considering the replacement or the Nordost is not a bad idea at all, but be careful as to "how warm of a cable you move to".

I think it's a real problem all cables in a system be of different brands and of course different inductance, capacitance, noise suppresion etc.

I suggest Frank115 adress this problem with same line of cables (any he likes) and then see if his problem remains. And it's easy to loan some cables for the weekend.

Prompted by Kops' suggestions on cables, I've changed things round a bit - Cardas now is Pre-Power, and I've changed the CD-Pre to a vdh 'The First' which has certainly tamed a bit of glare! It also seems to give a little more body to the sound, while rolling off the treble a little.

I'm not in a position to purchase new cables just yet, as I've just bought the Bel Canto, the Lumleys and the Nordost cables within the past 3 weeks (purchases made necessary as I'm moving from ATC SCM10A-2 active monitors).

Ckoffend advice sounds good to me - I really don't want to get an overly warm sound at all; really just a subtle shift to the warmer side. I'm enjoying the transparency of the sound at the moment and I'd be lothe to lose the systems strengths.