Is this a deal or what ....

on the contrary..the biggest improvements in digital sound have come via the way software is mastered for playback...although there have been improvements in hardware, most of the changes in hardware have been operational and build improvements that don't have a tremendous impact on what you hear. with boutique hi end manufacturers, as much time and money is spent to change your perception of playback quality as is on achieving actual sonic improvements...that kind of big bucks research is the stuff of phillips,denon,sony,etc who have a major stake in both the hardware and software industries. we are in a world where 0ver 50% of music playback happens on pc's....lord have mercy.

If you like beets, and find them on sale, then by all means buy them and enjoy.

If you don't like beets, however, even a price of one cent is too high.

I don,t agree with tireguy,The aero is a great sounding unit,But it's reliability is far from acceptable,two trusted audiophiles friends of mine sold their units,because of reliability issues.I personally have the EMC1UP Electrocompaniet and feel it's the very best in price/performance ratio.The flavor of the month digital happens to be the Meinter dac At $10K,I don't think so.
If you read these forums,it's the same guys pushing this gear.I've own wadia and agree,it's digital sounding.But i can't justify spending $10k on a dac which in 3 years will be forgotten.Let your ears be the judge not your wallets.

Try the Wadia 861 with the Statement Modification from Steve Huntley at Great Northern Sound.

Tireguy- yes, the Emm Labs is the new thing and probably excellent considering the technology advance- it sounds enticing, however out of my league $$$, as Jtinn has quoted me full list @ $10k, and that's just for the dac! He wants another $5k for the matching Emm transport. Not sure if there is a money-back guarantee- I live in Canada, so can't audition this stuff- would be hard-presses to pop for $15k without even hearing it first...

It's OK though- I'm still pretty happy with the Spectral/Audio Note setup- in fact, I also use the Audio Note for home theater too (run satellite digital signal through it). The AN is very detailed dac, and I find I am getting the smallest nuances of the signal, whether it's vocals or music coming though.

Please let us know how you like the Emm Labs stuff once you get it though- I am sure it will be great. Did you actually get a chance to hear it prior to committing??