Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD


Hi All.

Putting together a reference level system.
My Source is predominantly standard 16/44 played from a MacMini using iTunes and Amarra. Some of my music is purchased from iTunes and the rest is ripped from standard CD's.
For my tastes in music, my high def catalogues are still limited; so Redbook 16/44 will be my primary source for quite some time.

I'm not spending DCS or MSB money. But $15-20k retail is not out of the question.

Upsampling vs non-upsampling?
USB input vs SPDIF?

All opinions welcome.

And I know I need to hear them, but getting these ultra $$$ DAC's into your house for an audition ain't easy.

Looking for musical, emotional, engaging, accurate , with great dimension. Not looking for analytical and sterile.
mattnshilp
If you are not a climatologist or scientist at NOAA or NASA, then you only know a tiny bit about the subject. These are the experts and it's time we acknowledged that. Believing that there is nothing you can do anyway because you are just one person is a recipe for disaster and the eventual extinction of man. This is not an exaggeration. Global warming is currently the #1 threat to mans existence, as well as many other species on the earth. This is acknowledged by at least 80% of the worlds climate scientists.

Steve N.
"If you are not a climatologist or scientist at NOAA or NASA, then you only know a tiny bit about the subject."

That's true thanks to our modern media which seems no longer capable of reporting the news in an unbiased and purely factual manner. For every part of real information there are thousand parts of noise. Wikipedia is often the best source for news. Not perfect, but the best system for getting to the facts fastest over time.
The crazy thing is that the cell-phone is probably responsible for at least 90% of the idling cars in the US today. It never used to be this way. People are just on auto-pilot. They get in their cars, start them up and then proceed to sit there for 15 or 20 minutes looking at their cell-phones or talking on them. Ridiculous, wasteful and hazardous to the earth IMO. Americans (US) are the most wasteful people I have seen on the face of the earth. Sometimes I am ashamed to counted among them.

I practice what I preach too. I don't start my car until I have my seat-belt buckled and everyone is in the car with their belts buckled and I am ready to drive. I am also looking to get an electric car. This will make a significant difference in my carbon fooprint. The majority of the power here is hydroelectric.

Steve N.

Steve N.