The Denafrips Pontus-2 has been upgraded and much better in the 12th anniversary addition and still under $2k.
DAC RECOMMENDATIONS PLEASE
Hello,
Presently my system is: Qobuz > Lumin U1 Mini Streamer > Electrocompaniet ECD-1 Dac > Herron VTSP-3A (R03) Pre > Odyssey Khartago Extreme Amp > KEF r11 Speakers.
The ECD-1 dac is 20 years old. I've had issues with this dac at times not playing 24/192 music at all even though its rated to handle it. Recently I've had to adjust settings in the Lumin to play 24/192 music at 24/96 in order for it to play. So, I want to replace it with something using a bit more current technology. My budget is 1800.00 for something used.
To my ears, the KEF r11 is a very detailed and revealing speaker. Well recorded music sounds great. Poorly recorded music sounds very poor and again to me, that means edgy and fatiguing highs. I'm looking for a warm and musical presentation. Things I've done to lean in that direction are getting the Herron pre and adjusting the bias of the Khartago towards a warmer sound also.
Dacs I've been studying have been R2R NOS dacs like Border Patrol, Denefrips Pontus II, and others. I also have looked at the Schiit Yggy LIM. So I'd love to hear from anyone who perhaps has had a similar quest and what was found to fit the warm and musical goal. Thanks for any comments!
JM
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- 52 posts total
I really like the Synthesis, Roma 69 & Line Magnetic tube DACs. I use an older LM 502ca and rolled in some high-end 12au7s & rectifier tubes - its ridiculously great and better sounding than anything I’ve experienced for upwards of $5-$6K. I use an Audience, AU24se digital cable too which is a great connector. So many terrific moderately priced DACs... these are a couple I enjoy |
@jfmerk - do you have a local area group of audio folks (AES?) near you, maybe someone [nice] in the group will let you demo their R2R dac?. Having tried a few different lower to mid-priced r2r dacs with different technologies, and a well praised non-r2r dac, uh... what I started with and ended up with was quite different from what I originally thought I might do. There seems to be a lot of hype with dacs, imo. Unless someone with some experience and decent ears hears your system [in your room, speakers, cables, setup] and has a good idea of which direction you want to go, [after you demo multiple dacs] you might land a little closer to where you want to be. Its a big guess otherwise. I think most of what we do here is trial and error, and learning best we can from others as we go. Reading posts and doing real demos is a completely different thing to consider. This can be expensive and might take a while to hit the target IF you just buy/resale later, and don’t demo stuff. Try to get a few loaners or a dealer loan/buy/returns if you want to save some time and $. A great dealer or retailer with a solid return policy can help a lot. Best of luck. |
- 52 posts total