UPGRADE PATH FROM CHORD QUTEST DAC
Seeking to purchase a new DAC from my current Chord Qutest which has a S Booster Power Supply. I prefer to work with a dealer and am looking for a DAC that can be serviced in the United States. Thus far, I have been recommended by a dealer to go with the Weiss 204. I believe that to maximize the Weiss Dac I must purchase a linear power supply to replace the switching power supply that comes with the DAC. The Modwright upgrade for the Weiss 204 has been suggested at a cost of $1000.00 and has received really good reviews. The total cost for the Weiss 204 with Linear Powwer supply would be $4500.00. Any other suggestions would be appreciated to aid me in my search. Don't wish to exceed $5000.00 and not looking to purchase used. Thanks in advance.
Audio Mirror Tubadour IV SE. An excellent tube Dac at a great price.(4000) Built in recclocker to lower jitter. Furutech recepticle...Gaia footers..internal componets are all good quality.
Moving from Octo Dac8 to Tubadour...noticed sound stage got a bunch wider...more separtion of instruments. A lil more texture. |
If you like your Qutest but just want "more" of that same sound it would make sense to stay in the Chord family and at least audition the TT2. Should be easy to find at a dealer. List price is a few hundred dollars over your $5,000 limit but I’m pretty sure you could talk the dealer down that much or more. I hear mixed things about the Weiss 204. Love Weiss but they might have compromised too much trying to hit that lower price target. |
Schiit Yggdrasil R2R (in your budget, less than 3k). It is made in the USA, sounds better than dacs 10 times its price and happens to be manufacturer direct. The manufacturer is your dealer, i.e., you wouldn’t need another middleman in your life (adding 50% to the cost for sending you a thank you note and shipping a box).
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Schiit Yggdrasil is what I also use. I have 2 of them, the recently discontinued Yggi+ OG and the current Yggi+ LIM. The OG is detailed, non-fatiguing, and the very best DAC I have ever owned. I want to buy second Yggi+ OG but cannot find one. Initially, I was thinking of buying the likely slightly better Playback Design Dream DAC at $24k. I even bought the $3k PBD Plink (fibre) streamer in advance of buying the Dream. However, after I heard the OG (after a heavy 30-day burn-in) I knew I was going to save my money. I sold the streamer. The LIM is the first Yggi+ DAC I bought, and I loved it with my Magnepan LRS+ system. The LRS+ is not as detailed nor is the LIM. However, it is a great non-fatiguing listen. The LRS+ is sold now and the LIM is not cutting it for my Yamaha NS5000 speakers. I should state that I did put the LIM back with the NS5000 today and loved the sound, but it could be better as the OG is with the NS5000. Over the weekend I signed up to upgrade my LIM to the OG replacement, the More Is Better (MIB). That is an $850 upgrade to the LIM and likely takes the sound closer to the OG level. I use the OG with my RAAL VM-1a tube headphone amp. Incredible. Try it out on the 15-day home trial, though I think it takes about 30 days for the proper burn in. Schiit Audio Yggdrasil DAC - The Absolute Sound
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I have the Weiss 204 with the ModWright LPs upgrade and thing it sounds excellent. I think it has excellent resolution, wonderful tonality, and is vey open and clean sounding. A few things to note from my experience. First, the ModWright LPS is simply a replacement of the basic PS that Weiss ships with the unit, so it is not an actual mo per se. Second, as far as US service, this will likely depend on what might need servicing. I originally thought that I might have had an issue with my unit (turns out I did not and the issue was elsewhere) and reached out to Weiss. Daniel Weiss very quickly responded and let me know that there was a firmware upgrade available, but I would need to send the unit back to Switzerland. Fortunately as mentioned the unit was fine, but just something to keep in mind. I did appreciate his very quick response though. |
