2. amps-preamps
  3. 1254577435

Berkeley Alpha DAC vs Theta Gen VIII and stuff...

More ramblings of a madman...

So my search for the preamp has lead me here. Thanks to all who posted in my thread about the Spectral pre but i think i have narrowed it down to an odd pair, the 2 Dacs in the title. This arose from a long phone conversation yesterday with the guy who sort of mentored me in this whole audio mess. I had bounced the idea of the Spectral DMC 30SL i was ready to buy off of him and we had gone round and round about the options. A friend of his has some similar gear, WP's and the like, and had had that Spectral as well as the 30SS + the Spectral CD/DAC. He had also been searching for the right fit and came across the Berkeley Alpha Dac. His comments are strong but they mirror what Robert Harley stated in his TAS article, the BAD is better than the Spectral System...the DAC and the Pre...he has replaced all that Spectral gear with the BAD run directly to his amp. WOW! I am in. But...I must complicate this...If i am going to go the DAC/Pre combo route I might as well include the one I personally have always lusted after...the Theta Generation VIII. Ok...so now I have narrowed this down to the final 2, this is great progress. Help me drive this home fella's...

Has anyone compared these 2 fine devices? Anyone have experience with both that may help me close the door? It is not realistic to get them both here to do a listen, that is out. Gotta go on my gut and some input from the forum.

I suppose my first thought is the newer BAD is a better option given the progress in digital these days as well as the higher rez but the Theta is a classic sweet DAC which has been among the finest available for some time. It is also Theta, A company that seems to be a shell of itself since ATI got involved. Hmmmmm.

Whichever i chose will still be a challenge as neither has a solution for ht pass through. I will need to find some sort of switch at the amp or just change cables when I watch TV/Movies.

So this is where I stand. Input on these 2 devices, experience or comparison, greatly appreciated...

Rest of the system (for now!):

Krell FPB 600c
Wilson WP 7's
Logitech Transporter (will be the only source acting as tranport only)
MIT MH850 speaker cables
MIT MI350 CVT Proline Reference interconnects
MIT Oracle AC1 power cords
MIT ZStabalizerIII HG conditioner/filter/surge

HT stuff to pass through some how...

My home theater will pass through.
richard_stacy
richard_stacy OP
686 posts
 
indianaears...i suspect it has more to do with the age of the genviii than an exodus. in addition, the series 2 makes it a dated piece (the gen viii series 1) so i am pretty sure that is the reason for the slide in value. that being said, it also is making it quite the bargain and hard to pass. in an ideal world, i should try to get them both here for a side by side. that would be quite an interesting event and quite telling.

i am surprised there are not more with experience to share on these. i could not even find much in the forum history on the theta despite it's age...
richard_stacy OP
686 posts
 
one more option would be the modwright transporter, also straight to the amp. anyone compare the mwt with the alpha dac or gen viii? do any of you guys use your mwtransporters straight to your amplifiers?
richard_stacy OP
686 posts
 
any other suggestions on how to improve? i will be forced to flip a coin.
lewinskih01
909 posts
 
Richard,

Unfortunately I cannot provide input for your question, as I'm basically standing at the same spot you are in, although it will take me about another year to save enough cash. If you don't mind, I would greatly appreciate if you could post what you decide to do and how it goes.

Best of luck!

Horacio
mtdking
157 posts
 
I have compared the Modwright transporter to the Theta and I liked the Modwright much better but a preamp with the modwright makes a huge difference. You can not run the transporter direct to amps. A good preamp makes all the difference in the world.
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