Any opinions on the AMR Digital Processor 777 Dac?

Gopher,
I have been fortunate enough to hear the Metrum Octave and AMR on the Def 4's ( in different systems). The Octave is a nice dac at its price point but suffers the same tonal leanness and digital signature that every SS dac at that price point that i have heard suffers from. In my opinion it would hard to find a linestage at $5k that could beat the AMR so it is anything but overpriced. To me it is one of the greatest bargains in dacs(again my opinion, not stating as fact). I was impressed enough to have purchase an all AMR system after living with the dac for a year. I'm not saying this to sway people toward the AMR. I am simply rebutting your opinion that the dac is overpriced...I literally can not think of another dac I would trade it for. I would hate for someone to not demo the product for themself based on your comments. Different systems, interconnects, room acoustics, amps, and speakers will all influence the perception of the dac. In my system, it is stellar and I believe it has that potential in others systems. Your bad experience with the product does not make the product bad or overpriced. Again, I am not looking to inflame of be cantankerous...just a believer that in my system, that dac is the cats meow and believe there are others that will feel the same way.

same here!
Yesterday I compared the Pre section against my Pass XP10 preamp. After two hours I was so happy to switch back to the AMR. This piece is a game changer in my System (Pass XA30.5, Dynaudio Special25).
I paid 3k Euros for it (ex demo)and I don't think that there is anything close to it in that price range.
So in my opinion it is not overpriced but a bargain.

I'm not denying the AMR is a Swiss Army Knife.Its features are wowonderful and the interconnects, powercords and extra bixes it makes unnecessay makes it a good value if you our these things to use as you obviously do.

For those of us that use it solely as a DAC, however, I think similar or even better results can be had cheaper. I won't name people, but I've spoken privately with a handful of former AMR owners who reported similar findings with less expensive competition. In fairness one of then hated the Metrum Hex but still slightly preferred a DAC in the sub $1500 range that even did DSD.

Look, I'm not suggesting the Octave is better, but if your needs are limited to a dac, you are still paying for the unused features so it has to be compared MSRP for MSRP.

As a compliment to AMR, I significantly preferred it to the LampizatOr I previously owned, which was beautiful and seductive, but so colored and romanticized as to play a large role in dictating what I listen to.

Oh and for the record we compared both DACs with the LampizatOr Transport and a Bolder Cable Co Modified Squeezebox Touch with Deluxe power supply and Music Rail upgrades .

David,

Thinking further about it, the fact that your using def 4s makes a bit of sense in your preferences. I have a set of those nanotech drivers for my def 2s and as impressive as theyare, they are a good bit more neutral in presentation and I can.see that extra sweetness of the AMR making a nice synergy.

Beyond that the DACs presentations were more similar then different, don't mistake me for saying the AMR is a poor performer.

What's your budget?