Is Musical Fidelity a downgrade?

I have the 21. Reviews I have seen of the Bel Canto lead me to believe that the 21 is probably better, I certainly have no complaints about mine. Several companies also offer upgrades for it. I have not felt the need to do so.

I don't know for a fact but I suspect they are more similar sounding than different from what I have read, personal taste being the main discriminating factor.

The Bel Canto seems to have a large following though on this particular site.

Thanks guys, I have been researching all day and I think I will give it a shot. If nothing else I will gain the experience of listening to another piece of equipment, which is a rare event on this island.

cash is king. take the cash and then you can buy anything you want. i like tube dacs but there is an exception.

the ess technology 32 bit sabre dac chip. twisted pair audio has a buffalo dac, which implements the sabre 32 bit dac chip. i am replacing my exemplar audio non oversampling tube dac with an evaluation dac made by ess technology using the 8 channel 32 bit sabre dac. decline the musical fidelity dac.