Former MHDT Havana Lovers: What did you move onto?

Jult,

Good point!

Without having much information on specific DAC specs, I would suspect higher output impedance of tubed versus SS DACS in general is a key factor in determining best general application of each similar to output from tube versus SS pre-amps. I would expect a correlation in general between lower DAC output impedance and resulting better dynamics, better detail, and lower distortion levels all other things aside. Whether the system as a whole sounds better or not as a result is harder to predict because so many other factors come into play.

Eugene sorry I missed the requirement concerning the output impedance. Yes, it is as Jult notes 3K for the tube side which would certainly not be a match for your passive pre, certainly not ideal in your situation. Then again you can always fool around with changing out op-amps, I'll bet thats fun.:)

Nice review Doug,I concur fully

Jult52, you hit upon my next area of interest, comparison to NOS DACs. To date I have heard some such as the Niko but not done side by side comparison. I know that users of NOS DACs are claiming wondrous things for them, so it should be intresting to compare.

However, I'll be honest; I have reservations that any 24 bit processing, NOS or not can perform at a level of that achieved by the stacked and paralleled ESS chips. I had an opportunity to use the PerfectWave transport/DAC which I believe has a "Native" setting and let's just say even the previous version of the EE DAC comapred quite favorably to it.

However, I am open to correction through comparison over time.

The SS output is a bit more pristine but a tad thinner, with less body, not dramatically so, but noticeably. The use of the stock tube vs. others might depend heavily on the rest of the system. But the extreme revelatory nature of the DAC is such that all tube rolling is highly efficacious.

If the rig is bass-shy I sometimes use the stock Shuguang over the Siemens, but with some loss of fine detail and air on the top. I have been staying with the tube output to add a bit more fullness in the bottom end; the Legacy Whisper DSW's in my rig are open baffle and are 22Hz, but I try to get as much out of their bottom end as I can.

I also cannot stress enough the importance of finding a superb digital cable. The quality will literally kill the performance or allow it to shine through beautifully. I would try no less than three different brands and perhaps as many as five or six to find one that is superlative - this is true with any DAC. If I were not reviewing and shooting for my best I might try as many as six to nine different digital cables; they make THAT much of a difference to the end result!

Doug - I look forward to seeing your comments on other NOS DACs when you have time to do the comparisons. In the meantime, you've really raised my curiosity about the MiniMax. Completely agree about digital cables. They make a big difference.

mhdt SS Constantine is NOS I believe and despite going second hand for under $500 generally and having heard some very expensive and top notch digital in other reference systems, I find it hard to fault whereas teh Paradisea though lovely sounding in teh right system does demonstrate some clear deficiencies and biases, at least with the stock GE tube (warm/soft but musically engaging, slightly rolled off bass, limited dynamics) although tube rolling does make a big difference as I would guess it might as well with the Havana.