Musical Fidelity A324 DAC as good as Tellig says?

Don't let Tellig convince you that the grass is greener. He has a habit of convincing readers that the ordinary is extrordinary. The MF might be a improvement over the 23's DAC, but the 23 is really good alone and there are lots good upgrade options that you should not rule out.

Now the kicker here is: where do I upgrade? This is what happens. You asked about the MF and I start on the Prima. What that has to do with the MF I don't know. Someone else tells you to bi amp. Gurantee, someone will tell you to have a good look at preamp possibilites. That always helps a system. Before you know it: a whole new system. That's what I love about this hobby. Now, I'm not a B&W fan, but I'm not going there. That wouldn't do you any good. I like the idea of, if they do infact need the power, biamping before going the DAC route. I think, however, your CD player is a weak link. It might sound great, but why not greater; especially if you can do it in your price range. You, apparently, can do some cool things to your system, inexpensively. Listen, listen, listen. And then do what we tell you to do.

Thanks for the input. I have definitely been considering bi-amping. It’d be more expensive but I'd probably not have think much more about amplification for the foreseeable future. Blackie: Are your 803’s biamped? I still plan on trying to audition the MF DAC in my system first. I don't think jitter would be much of an issue with the MF (see John Atkinson's measurements etc on page 92 of the July issue of Stereophile). I’m not familiar with the Audio Aeros Prima. Searches on Google, Yahoo & Hotbot provided no info.

Who knows (I wouldn't), it may be. You'll just have to go and listen. But keep two things in mind until then: Tellig is, and always has been, the foremost cheerleader for this brand; and even he hasn't compared every available option out there when he declares something to be unbeatable, either for the money or even flat-out (in his totally unbiased opinion, of course). I enjoy Sam as much as the next guy, and have even profitably taken his advice into consideration on occasion. But if this hobby is about anything at all, it's about system synergy and personal preferences. In my system, the digital front-end started with a mass-market CD player, went to a mid-fi CDP with a digital out, then to an outboard DAC, then a better digital IC, then a jitter-box, then a dedicated transport, and then I added a balanced PLC, and I've been rewarded with improved sound at each step. Now I've just bought an "umsampling" DAC to audition against my reference, and we'll see if history repeats itself. You'll probably stay curious if you don't find a way to compare your own reference against the "latest and greatest" for yourself, and the MF might well be as good a place to start as any. Sorry not to be of any *real* help, but I do wish you the best of luck!

I don't have my N803s biamped currently but I did try a single A3cr power amp and it has a great, transparent sound but it just ran out of steam at anything above a modest volume. I have also tried the A3dac and you will get better (larger, richer, more open) sound with a better one box unit like the Linn Ikemi, Meridian 508-24 or Krell KAV-280cd. I have also heard good things about the Audio Aero (not Aeros) Prima. Personally I would keep your CD player, get a second A3cr power amp, upgrade to the REL Storm III (the Strata is great but the 803s can go pretty low and would really benefit from the Storm) and just enjoy the wonderful sound your system can make, which I'm sure you already do.