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Review on Linear Tube Audio Aero DAC

Hey Gon members,

I just submitted to Stereo Times my review on the new ,and the first, DAC that Linear Tube Audio has just released. For right now I would strongly suggest anyone in the market for a stand alone DAC, regardless of price, consider the Aero. Its build quality, R2R chip set, power supply, internal part selection and the tube based ZOTL analog conversion section leads to one of the most musical and analog type presentations I have heard in the last ten years. Not inexpensive at $3,950, but competes with my reference which sells for $10,000 more. You get a 14 day home . trial. So far no one has returned the Aero after hearing in their system. I go into many details about the Aero in my review, but wanted to give a heads-up for anyone considering a DAC purchase. I believe the Aero is a break through product based on price vs. performance. I'll let you know when the review goes up. Hopefully in the next ten days.

 

Terajay (Terry London)

teajay
teajay OP
1,691 posts
 

Hey phill55,

It's been awhile since I reviewed the Audio Mirror Tubadour DAC, which is a wonderful musical sounding DAC. My hunch would be that the LTA Aero will be more dynamic and resolving with more pristine tonality, but not losing the sense of musicality that the Tubadour has. 

Teajay 

phill55's avatar
phill55
142 posts
 

Excellent thank you Teajay. With a 14 day free trial what have a got to lose😁

jetter
3,033 posts
 

@teajay Great question! You might find it shocking that the Pass Labs DAC-1 performance is quite close to the present day reference level DACs.

Amazing!  What is this like a 27 year old DAC?  

 

teajay OP
1,691 posts
 

Hey jetter,

Yes, the Pass Labs DAC-1 is about that old. Mine was re-capped by Pass Labs  and is in pristine condition. The only reason that Pass Labs stopped manufacturing the DAC-1 was the unavailability of the great Burr-Brown PCM-(K)63 chips. Pass Labs policy is if they can't have parts to repair a certain model in the future they stop manufacturing it.

The DAC-1 uses four of these chips in a fully balanced configuration. Then add Nelson's brilliance with power supplies and you get a great sounding DAC.

Teajay 

mitch2
3,967 posts
 

@teajay 

I also used my favorite 6SN7 tube, NOS 1943 TungSol black glass/round plates. Everything in my description of the Aero DAC’s performance with these tubes went even higher.

After reading about how you found the DAC's performance to be even better with NOS 6SN7 tubes, I thought I would look around and maybe purchase a set prior to receiving the DAC, so I could maximize its performance during my 14-day trial period.  Holy crap, I had no idea of where prices have gone on 6SN7 tubes!  It seems $400 to over $1K for a pair is not unusual.  Therefore, leaving the DAC powered up for best sound, as supported by LTA, would be a much more expensive proposition if using NOS tubes.

Can you elaborate on the specific sonic attributes, as well as the relative degree of improvement - i.e., subtle to significant, that you heard when using NOS 6SN7 tubes?  Do you believe 6SN7s in general may sound better than 12SN7s in this DAC?  Thanks for any additional thoughts you can share regarding the impact of the tubes used.

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