DAC recomendations $1500-$3000

Hi Chriswilford1,

I just got in the North Star Design 192kHz/32bit DAC because I'm reviewing it for hometheaterreview.com were I'm a staff reviewer.

This DAC from Italy without any were being close to be broken in still sounds better to me then the Wyred 4 Sound DAC2, Benchmark DAC1 or PS Audio Perfect Wave. It extremely well built and very fairly priced, around $1200.00. If your interested E-mail me for more details.

I've had very good results with the PerfectWave DAC and the Bel Canto DAC3. I ended up keeping the Bel Canto, because I wasn't going to use the networking options that the PerfectWave offered and for my ears, in my system, I prefered the Bel Canto.

PS audio is releasing an upgrade to the perfectwave DAC for $1000 this month. If it is as good as suggested, this may well turn the PWD into a giant killer. Worth waiting a few more weeks and hear initial reports. You could score a used PWD for less than 2K and do the upgrade and stay within budget. It will also have asynchronous USB if you want to do computer audio but don;t want to mess with their networked architecture.

MSS Hi Fi here in NY has new PS Audio's listed @ $2100 but I do not know whether they are an authorized dealer or are gray marketing.

They are grey market - you will have no warrenty on this, although they say they will take care of you if you have a problem. I actually ordered a cheap P10 PS audio conditioner from them, which they then could not deliver (fortunately - I ended up buying 2x P5 instead through a dealer).

MSS HiFi also have cheap grey market Bel Canto stuff. No warranty on any of this. I have bought grey market before (usually about 30% below MSRP) without any problems, but there is always some risk involved. Not sure if the PS audio warrenty is transferable, but you may be better off buying used and having a warranty.

Alternatively, you can shop around in the dealer network - you should be able to get at least 15% off on new PS audio gear. They also still have the $1000 trade-in deal on the PWD I believe.