Departing from the DAC side

I know it'll make ol' CJRoss over at HFC unhappy, but that's life. I tried out the Meridian 588 ex Ian (Sideshowbob) with and without the TAG DAC20 and it doesn't improve the 588 at all. Most surprisingly of all, to my ears, the HDCD function of the DAC20 didn't make my one and only HDCD sound any better than did the non-HDCD 588 alone. So, thanks, Ian, your gain is also my gain! And before anyone says "better DAC", these require lots of money, the lots of money I don't happen to have. In any case, it all sounds rather good as it is and I have one fewer box cluttering up the place!

 

Tones,

your findings dont surprise me as the 588 is a far better player in it own right than the DAC20 IMO. I would imagine that putting the DAC20 on the end of the 588 would be a downgrade!

Cheers, Robbo

 

I seem to remember a certain bake-off at a certain Chez Robbo where a certain DAC20 failed to 'upgrade' a certain Arcam Alpha 9. Only one of those present preferred the DAC20 (and he drives a Rover )

Chris

 

:duck:

 

Tones, I made the same move, from DAC20 to 588. See, you're not as deaf as you make out, the difference is, in that horrible cliche, "not subtle". The 588 makes the DAC20 sound terribly woolly and slow, I think.

-- Ian