Upgrade from Benchmark Dac?

" I have at least 3x the cost of the DAC 1 on it's power"

"Doesn't that strike you as a bit...ah...wacko?"

Overkill, maybe. Maybe not. I could see it if power was very dirty to start with and the PC device resolves it. Still, there might be a less expensive PC solution that does it. I don't know one way or the other.

But, it doesn't necessarily surprise me that the Benchmark requires clean power to work its resolving magic to the max.

Drubin,

Well of course it's...ah..wacko! That's what this hobby is all about. I didn't plan it that way, it is just how it worked out. I had a Running Springs Haley with a Cardas(mongoose) cord. I wanted to sell it and tried installing a bybee (go ahead and laugh) signature power conditioner and ended up with them in series. Both make a difference, but work on different aspects of the sound. Over the weekend I installed a loaner Bybee super cord and I am really tempted to keep one in but it is pricey. As my original post stated, I am looking for a replacement for this combo. Frankly I was embarrassed to post it for fear of a comment such as yours...
By the way, the power is not very "dirty", but as Mapman said, it is very resolving and the AC stuff has really made a somewhat sterile DAC very liquid on my Soundlabs.

Cerrot, Do you think spending $3,000 on cables and PC on a $950 DAC will out perform a $4,000 DAC?

Anything out there in the digital world that will blow me away like the Benchmark? I don't want to spend ten times the dough to get a debatable 10% more "sound".

I suspect a lot depends on you.

If you are skeptical (as your thread suggests) then it might be hard to get even a 10% improvement.

However if you are ready to stump up the dollars for something rare and truly high-end then you may find it quite easy to convince yourself that you have a 100% improvement.

After all what is 10% ? What is 100% ?

Human nature...more dollars has a big influence on "expectations" moreover the cosmetics and build on something ten times as expensive will be extremely impressive compared to the sadly austere functional DAC1 (even though it has an unnecessarily expensive faceplate).

4est,

Powercord is the Shunyata Python Vx Helix (into Shunyta Hydra w/20amp Python PC) on Symposium sveltshelf; IC's are Tara Labs The One.

Sidssp, I don't know if it sounds better than a $4,000 DAC as I haven't heard one in my system. I do have an Esoteric X03SE CD Player, which was $8,000 (+ Python Vx Helix Vx and Tara Balanced The One PC & IC) and the Esoteric does sound much better, but the Benchmark sounds awesome and, for now, am happy with it. The benchmark (hooked to squeezebx) is just for the convenience, casual listening. When I want my mind blown, it's The Esoteric or Vinyl. I am VERY happy with the Benchmark and am quite amazed when I put a playlist together while reading and can't read as I am too involved with the listening. If it were my main source, I'd probably upgrade the Benchmark to the Berkley, or get an Esoteric D03.

I am enjoying the Benchmark way too much for $950 - and, if I did get a $4,000 dac, I would still use $3,000 worth of cables, and, I would be surprised if it would sound as good as the Esoteric.