Looking for DAC/CD player solution

Thanks for your help, Danmyers. Like i said, i am a complete newbie.

Anthem D2 is a surround processor—only plan on listening to 2 channel. The AVM 20 is about $1200 on Audiogon, the D2 is $4200—out of my budget.

I own almost no CD’s and almost no DVDs. I’m actually listening to Comcast’s music stations right now which have awful sound quality.

I plan to use Squeezebox or maybe Sonos (which is more expensive at $800), a device that has free internet radio stations, Pandora and will let you use Rhapsody. I read on its forums that a DAC will improve sound quality which is rather awful straight from the Internet—definitely not using the potential of my new Ushers.

Also plan to see a lot of movies using Roku box and would like to improve sound quality of Comcast stuff, from movies to TV and even music.

Can you recommend a DAC or pre/pro and amp combo or integrated amp for around 2K to 2.5K (total expenditures) (all used here on the ‘gon obviously)

Would like to use the potential of my new Ushers—with sound quality about as good as it would sound with a Musical Fidelity A5.

What about the Benchmark DAC1 Pre? Will this be as good in sound quality as the MF A5? I don’t really care about the HDMI from the computer or Blu ray, I’ll just use component and audio outs or digital outs. For the computer I would use USB or buy a USB to analog or digital converter. Or how about the MF A5 and a benchmark or bel canto DAC?

The $35 dvd/cdp will be returned when I get a Blu ray player, so I will have a better DVD, CD and blu ray player anyway. Looking at the Oppo which should be released in Feb/March. Will be watching DVD’s using Netflix, as well as Blu rays. And do plan to buy cd’s as I discover what I like.

Thanks.

Have also heard that if i use coaxial or optical cables that there is little to no degradation, as compared with speaker cable and interconnects. And that excellent optical cables are significantly cheaper, is this true?

Would like to save as much as possible, although i am willing to invest to a higher priced speaker cable and interconnect (again, willing to switch them around) to ensure that no major degradation occurs.

Thanks again.

Indiesound

I think your A5 is a good idea...I owned one for several years and now have the Ushers you are attempting to drive...though I have not heard them together! But I would feel comfortable saying the two will work well together. I do not recall that the A5 has an Optical IN, therefore you would need a DAC (look into that).

If I were you I would look to get a DAC that could handle all of your sources without changing wires...PS Audio, Bel Canto and Benchmark are all nice choices...find out which one will accept most of your intended sources. That's why a Pre/Pro (Anthem/Arcam) are good choices...they can handle many sources and have internal DAC's that might not be as good as a stand alone DAC, but are very nice.

Given the number of sources you wish to listen to you can't really go wrong with a DAC, whereby a DVD/CD/Blue Ray player only addresses 1 source when you listen to many others.

If you are going to get a Squeezebox down the road you might want to look into their Transporter unit that might be able to have other sources plugged into it to act as a DAC (not sure).

Cheers

OK, thanks for all that info. First, let me answer your question: "What is a transport?"

Using a CDP as a transport means that you don't use the analog outputs of the CDP, only the digital outputs. When you do this, the sound of your CDP is really the sound of your DAC (which could be stand-alone like Benchmark 1 or Pre, in the integrated amp like the Musical Fidelity A5.5, or in the Pre/Pro/AVR). Doesn't really matter, the key is that the sound is not really coming from the CDP - it's from the DAC.

So, I'd suggest getting the Oppo 980H and use it as a transport to feed your DAC. If you want to get blu-ray then wait for the BD-983. As cheap as the 980H is, you can get it now and get the BD-983 after your system is together and sounding fine. The goal here is to buy one great DAC and not waste money on DACs and analog out for each source component. Hope that is clear.

Indie, you've listed lots of source components with a mix of digital and analog sources. So, as Bob recommended earlier, the Benchmark DAC Pre is probably your best bet here. Because it is a pre-amp, you don't really need an integrated amp like the A5. This is because the A5 is both a pre-amp and an amp so you'd end up with 2 pre-amps. On the other hand, you have a lot of sources and the Benchmark has limited input connections, so the extra inputs on the A5 could save you some cable swapping. Your call, but I'd just buy an amp and connect the DAC Pre straight to it. You can always buy another pre-amp (or pre/pro) later.

So this leaves you with what amp to buy. I recommend you start a new thread and ask what amp to buy to drive your speakers and go from there.

IMO, cables are not that important. By that I mean, do not over spend. Your cables sound fine, and I'd just keep them until you get your system set up. (FYI - your coaxial/optical cable question does not make any sense to me). As Chad recommends, you should map out your system, with connection and connection types (USB, RCA, SPDIF, speaker wire, etc) to get a feel for how your system will operate. If you do it in powerpoint and save it as a jpg, you can post it and get feedback.