What the Best Dac have you heard or owned. How could you tell it was that good.

T+A DAC 200. Probably end game DAC for me given my modest system and my age. I have had lesser units but never at or above its retail price. I’m a used market guy and for what I paid for the 200 was a steal in my mind. I have a pretty good tt and cart which has been the standard for comparing DACs. Besides blowing away the other DACs, the 200 now has me questioning what’s wrong with the tt/cart?! It’s that good on soundstage, voice, bass, etc. System is Hegel 590; Innous Zenith mk3/phoenix usb: Magico A3 (No subs). Tt is VPI/transfiguration cart. 

While I don’t use it anymore the benchmark DAC3 had impressive bass impact. I have yet to find a DAC that seemed as good in the bass. Not the best DAC ever but something special about the bass of the benchmark. 

@jetter Seal Beach…. still IMO a lovely California beach town….. I knew her charms well… put in a few hours there on things that orbit the earth…. Big Fish bait n tackle…. ya man

@james633 What DAC are you using now? I still use the DAC3B in one of my systems. It is too hot on top, but I can work around that.

I had the factory DAC in my McIntosh C47 preamp and then switched to a PRIMA LUNA 400 preamp with a Bryston BDA-3. Both set ups were very sonically pleasing. My current setup is Backert Labs Rhythm 1.4 and an Aqua Acoustics LaScala DAC. Both are tube based and sound fantastic. Much improvement in the bass and midrange. Please know that if budget is a concern I believe that the BRYSTON BDA-3 DAC is something to seriously audition.