DAC question - is music streamer DAC better than mcintosh DA2?

@john1629 

Yes better streamers will net you better sound… I agree with you, it is usually hard to see how… until you hear the difference, then you know.

Sonus Faber and DynAudio are great speakers. If you could decide which you like better and sell both and upgrade at 2x you would probably be even happier.

@nathandfwacoustics 

Do not discount the quality of the DA2 DAC. I have an outboard DAC that retails for $19K, and it sounds glorious. As far as a price-to-performance ratio is concerned, the DA2 blows my expensive DAC away. You will need to spend upwards of $10K for a DAC to be clearly better than the DA2. Also, it is nonsense that we spend uber bucks for streamers; the DAC is the heart of the digital system. 

I have the MA9500 and its DAC sounds amazing. I’ve also owned the top Topping DAC and still have an Eversolo A8 that has a pretty good DAC but not near as full as the Macs DAC. It’s almost like comparing Class AB to D amps. 

I recently upgraded my MA8900 to the DA2 module.  I run an Aurender N100C as my only digital source and the DA2 performs very well.  I think you would have to spend a lot more money on an external DAC to notice big differences over the DA2.  I will say that the DA2 is a big improvement over the DA1 module that was originally installed in my amp.  It does not have issues with USB inputs from the Aurender which was a little finicky with the DA1 module.  You would be very well served with any of the Mac integrated amps and the DA2 DAC.

Last year I tried approximately 10 different DAC’s. The DA2 held its own with all of them. Mine is built into a C8. I never had one glitch with the C8 which is more than I can say for all of the other un I tried. There’s something about having the units built by the same manufacturer. also McIntosh owns another DAC manufacture called Weiss, I understand that they are a well respected brand. One last thought, if you buy your unit without the DA2 The dealer can install one for $1500.