How good is Benchmark DAC1 comparing to......

What planet are you on Uva? Where have I belittled the DAC1? By saying I prefer the Lavry Blue? When did I ever call the Lavry Blue the best? I can think of at least three DACs I have heard in my system that are better than the Lavry Blue. When have I said the Blue would be a better DAC for anyone else? You are simply making up stories. When I say the DAC1 is a great DAC, is that belittling it? When I say I bought one, is that belittling it? All I have done Uva is report what I have heard from these DACs in my system. I have not criticised what anyone has posted here about their experiences. Yet that is how small minded little twerps like you and DNE have reacted to my straightforward reporting of my experiences. From what I can tell, you guys are finding it unacceptable that I have pointed out that there are other DACs at around the same price that compete with the DAC1. What is it about such a suggestion that upsets you? Why do you feel so insulted when someone like me praises the DAC1 yet says he prefers a slightly more expensive DAC? I thought DNE a bit over the top - you have managed to top even him.

Abrahavt, sorry I can't get hold of the Audio Space contact details. If I do get them, I'll let you know.

The saving grace of these debates is that while the thread rages on, most of us privately and quietly make up our minds concerning whose opinions are actually useful (whether we agree with them or not). Some members have, over a long period of time, demonstrated that they not only listen to lots of gear but can describe what they hear
1) with precision (not "A blows B away" or even--sorry--"A was much more musical than B"),
2) comparatively across competing products, so we readers have a better chance of actually having a reference point based on our own listening, and
3) in reference to their own tastes, so we have a better chance of factoring in/out some of the copious amount of subjectivity that goes into such opinions.

These criteria are not easy to meet, and they add up to a degree of authenticity of opinion that makes the opinion useful.

Opinions that rely heavily on appeals to outside, "expert" opinions simply don't have this authenticity. Stereophile only costs $10/year and has lots of slick pictures to boot. I don't have to come here to read S'phile's opinions.

Fortunately, in the end it doesn't matter who shouts loudest or gets the last word or invokes the most "experts", except to those for whom that's what the hobby is mostly about.

Sheesh.

Redkiwi, PERSONAL NAME-CALLING ATTACKS HAVE NO PLACE HERE. You owe an APOLOGY to Uva-hifi and me. We will see if you post one.

You just called Uva-hifi a "small-minded twerp" and made certain sexual allusions. And, as I said earlier, about me you put forth some psycho-babble about my alleged "self-delusions" and "need to reduce anxiety", in an exagerrated and overly-defensive response to a post submitted by me in good faith.

Redkiwi, here's the way it works: In this forum, if you want to take issue with a post, you can do so objectively and in a civil manner. You don't get personal here--get it?

If you objected to my methodology in citing a reviewer (sin of sins!), you could have, and should have, said something like: "Dne, I disagree with your methodology in citing a reviewer. I think it is flawed because..."

Instead, you chose to start flinging around personal recriminations and resort to calling names. As I said in my post above, this is unwarranted and overly-defensive. Why are you so defensive? You try to give the impression of a high-minded expert but instead you get down in the gutter. One would not expect this from an apparent industy person, nor from your cosy coterie of associates who post with you.

I thought I was through here but I cannot stand idly by when I see comments like these.

I look forward to reading your posts (only) when they are objective and focus on the product and not on the poster personally. That's what I try to do.

Now I, and presumably, Uva, are ready to accept your apology.

Indeed! Well said Jayboard.

Let's get back to discussing what each of us hear, without petulant reprisals for failing to toe the party line. I was beginning to wonder if this was Audiogon or the Benchmark Evangelist Church.

One last time - I really really like the Benchmark. AND, I have heard DACs that I prefer to it, all of which cost more money. That is what I hear, and I do not claim it to mean anything more than that. If that is unacceptable here, then I will happily go elsewhere.