Need your expertise over 2 dac choice....


Hi everyone...

First my Enkianthus X is at repair now, and the technician is not sure about finding part to repair it....

So for the last month I have been looking for it next replacement... What I want is a dac that sound as good as the Enkianthus X or better at $7000 max....

My choice came down to 2 model...

After searching all over the web I came down to 2 model that intrigued me. The Meitner Ma-1 and the AMR dp-777.

I know that the Meitner has DSD, and I am not sure if I will ever need it...
The AMR is tubed and from what I have read, maybe a little more organic....

On both of them I wont be able to demoed it at home not even in local store, (no reseller in my area) and I will have to make an act of faith, order/buy one, before even seeing the shipping box...

First question...
To those of you already owning the AMR_dp-777: did you ever got your dac sent back for repair do to low built reliability, like I have read somewhere over the net ??? And the post says, sometime 2 repair ???? Something I don't need for sure...

Second question...
Which one would you buy: Meitner for it's well base reputation problem free over the year and easy to sell back.
Or taking a chance (in my case) with AMR, new to me (not to many sold in Canada) no DSD, tubed sounding, maybe a bit more organic and good reviews all over the net ????

From what I have read, both machine are very very good, and make my choice even harder, both of them at the door will cost (taxes, custom fees, shipping) almost the same.

That's why I need your expertise before making my final decision, specially from those of you who had the chance to listen to both machine side by side...

Thank again for your time
Danthemannn
danthemannn
I don't think you are going about this the right way. $7000 is a lot of money to take a chance on. You can get all the recommendations you like, but there's no substitute for a good demo. If you don't have a local dealer, find one thats not local and take a trip. I don't know about you, but I would rather spend a day or two on the road than make a $7000 mistake. Its much easier to spend money than it is to earn it. (at least for most people.)

I have the DP-777 and really think that its special!
used to have the original Meitner many years back DC model cant remember
the model. Found it to obscure detail. As far as reliability no probs so far (knock on wood) had it for 3 Months. I replaced lampizator level 4 with
the AMR and never looked back. Good Luck!
Hi ZD...

I know I could do the trip to hear the AMR but it is around 2000 kms.... maybe just a bit too far...
For the meitner I could make a demo near here, but I am really not shure about buying from this reseller... He make me nervous... Somekind of a flea market store that could vanish overnight kinda...
I owned the dp-777 for over 2 years, it's a great sounding dac, and the built in pre section is very good as well. My first unit had to br replaced after two weeks, and the replacement had to have a board replaced as well. IMHO they are extremely sensitive to static electricity?

I replaced it with the MA-1. Love the dsd capability! The dp-777 might be a bit more organic but they are very close and both sound great IMHO.

I did s short comparison over on Audiocircle if you Google.