Closest DAC to Vinyl Sound?

Bigkidz,

I agree. The new Lampizator level 3 DAC with the penodes in triode config are supposed to be a killer.

I will let you know when I get to hear on and can compare to the level 2 equivalent I currently have.

Depending on what you mean by Vinyl.

If it's "warm, thick and laid-back"
or
"fast, extended, present, and liquid".

Cfluxa,
I had a good listen with the Tranquility and compared it to Weiss 202 and Bel Canto DAC 2.5. It's very good and the analog-like quality people posted here and in other forums were apparent.

Wisnon,
Still waiting for Lukasz to send me the level2,5. Can't wait!

Sirotseta - great review on the Tranquility, and gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to know it can punch with the Weiss 202! Your description of "decent vinyl" playback mirrors my own opinions - for me, the unique thing about vinyl has nothing to do with warm or laid-back, it's more about delivering torrents of detail and sound space with each passing instant, all in an extremely vivid and non-fatiguing fashion. I think the Tranquility offers a good taste of this, although you're obviously not going to get quite that sense of raw power and effortless momentum that you get with a really good vinyl rig. But in my experience, not even higher-end names like DCS can quite do that, either.

I have the six-TDA1543-chip VALAB--for $200 it's a steal. Solder in better output caps if you feel like experimenting. I back away from any claims about it approaching vinyl in sound signature. It just makes good music and I like listening to it.

Soldersplatter, I hear you. I gave a four-chip TDA1543 DAC to my son after using it on my computer system for a while. I was very impressed. Fifty bucks gets music, fun-to-listen-to stuff, the same kind of fun I used to have with a tube-amplified Sears Viking LP changer when I was a kid. Fun, not a sound signature. Great stuff.