Just got the PS Audio Perfectwav DAC -- Amazing

Thanks for the links, Levy03. I am going to check them out.

If I come to the conclusion that I have to eat a little crow, I'll be sure to do so. It is highly nutritious, according to Dr. Friedrich Nietzche. :)

I'm surprised your having isssues with the sound of the PWT/PWD combo. I've been pleased before it broke in and since breaking in found it to surpass my older, but very respectable, Levinson Reference 30.6 DAC and 31.5 transport. Right away, the PWT/PWD just seemed to get the music right. I've since upgraded the HDMI cable to PS Audio's top of the line silver HDMI on several people's recommendations. It put the combo even further over the top.
As for volume, I'm currently setting the DAC at 75 to 80 on the volume display and then sending the signal into the ARC Ref 3 preamp. I broke my HDMI cable by playing just the transport into the DAC over Xmas break, for about 2 weeks the Purist Audio break in disc along with others. It sounded better each time I listened, and I assumed the new HDMI cable was broke in then. However, since being home, and having it play in the system, instead of just between the DAC and tranport, I've been amazed at how much it seems to improve each night. I really can't explain why this has happened. But this is what I'm experiencing.

I hope your PWT/PWD starts reaching its potential. But as we all have found out before, a component that sounds great in one system, may not make the grade in another system for many reasons.
Good listening,
Steve

Trebejo,

Regardless of whether or not your conjecture should ever prove to be true, you already ate your crow - feathers and all, when you made sweeping generalizations about a product with which you have no applicable experience….;)

I hesitate posting the following observation because it is a little depressing and it applies to just about every thread posted at this – and other audio sites…

As I attended my daughter’s choir recital this past weekend, I was treated to a live string quartet as they played for the audience during intermission. The acoustic setting, a wonderfully well treated hall within one of the more affluent local universities, provided a perfect setting for these four members of the local symphony. As they prepared to play, I sat back and closed my eyes – ready to make a mental comparison of how the “absolute sound” compares to my home rig. Needless to say, the live sound was shockingly different (…..as in better).

In light of the aforementioned reality, there really is no right or wrong when it comes to anyone’s subjective opinion of recreated music and the associated gear with which it is recreated. To each his own…

Hey 2chnlben,
You are so right. I listend to a trio of brothers play an unamplified musical event, which featured guitars, a violins, a double bass, a mandolin and of course vocals this weekend. It was in a medium sized stage (50 people) in a local coffee house. I've never heard even the best systems come close to the "live" sound. It can be a sobering experience to hear how your "All our Assault" system can so quickly be humbled by the simple pluck of a violin string or tap on a drum.
There is an immediacy, and clarity that no speaker I've ever heard or owned which include Acoustats, Magnepans, Revels,Legacys and many others that can come close to this.
Many of us do not get the chance to listen to unamplified instruments often or at all. That is why Magnepan used to have an incentive for dealers to go hear live unamplified music for which Magnepan picked up the tab. (I'm not sure if they still do this or not.)
At best we have a long way before our stereo systems can sould like the real thing if ever.
So a system's sound reflects our individual conceptions (based on hearing ability and aural experiences)of what an instrument(s) or voice(s) should sound like.
As you said, to each his own. . . about sums it up.