ok, i broke down and picked up a benchmark dac1 hdr (remote volume an absolute must for me).
I am running it straight into my arc 100.2 via el cheapo cardas XLR. When I first got it I was using my squeezebox (w/linear ps -- I don't like switching ps's close to my audio stuff, makes me paranoid ;) ) running true 75 ohm coax over s/pdif. Straight away it was a big improvement over running the SB3 direct via rca into the 100.2 (not surprised--actually I was quite pleased at just how good the solo sb3 direct to amp sounded, a true marvel at $299, been running this way for quite some time). The sound cleaned up, seemed more coherent and focused. Bass definition was improved--basically the whole sonic presentation grew in resolution.
Then i connected my dad's Oppo 980H s/pdif. Now i'm screwed and can't listen to the sb3 anymore, except for Pandora and Rhapsody which are killer music services.
The Oppo as transport is a definite leg up over the sb3 in quality of sound. I am beginning to wonder if my sb3 has a compromised s/pdif connection (internally) that cheap rca connector has a slight case of the wiggles from all the connection swaps made over the years.
All my files are FLAC. Speakers are dyn s3.4.
I am very impressed with the DAC1 HDR. The sound is absolutely crystal clear with a huge sense of refinement and resolution. Things just seem snappier and more 'in focus'. Now I have to figure out how to force the Oppo to not read the SACD layer on my sacd's (no s/pdif)....and of course i'm back to square one with music server. Perhaps the mac mini running usb? the dac1 usb does 24 bit/96 khz over usb which is a pretty big deal.
sorry if I hijacked the thread a bit.
