Great What HiFi review of my fave budget DAC - Beresford

Well it is for me.

 

I misunderstood. I thought you were saying that "there isn't a huge amount of difference between DACS no matter how expensive they are".

 

Racey the Vekian is the best DAC I have heard so far, I had the opportunity to distribute the 'audiophile' version of the Lavry 924 the 2002 and turned it down because the Stahl-Tek was better, it has greater resolution, it is extremely quiet, with a very low noise floor , incredibly dynamic yet with beautiful tone, voices and instruments have a palpability a realism I have not encountered before , the best dacs grab your attention, the way that good vinyl does.
I understand of course that diminishing returns kicks in hard, and for a lot of users a greater improvement might be gained by buying a better pair of loudspeakers. Keith.

 

How much is it?

 

I imagine there is a slight differential in price between the Beresford and the Vekian, too.

 

'Twas I who sold Coopee my 7510, Stan had upgraded it, but due to size restrictions couldnt mod it to the very latest (at the time) spec, which disappointed me a bit.
Having said that, when fed by my then cdp, the Eastern Electric Minimax, I was truly impressed by it, but, when moving on to my then next player, a Consonance 2.2 Reference, it did nothing, so it got sold on, as I said earlier, to Coopee, it really does show that the old "synergy" thing has to be taken into consideration, and could it be that the folk who said it was just an OK dac, and nothing special, tried it with a sytem that it didnt "gel" with?

 

$14500.
Bargain

 

It's a no-brainer at that price. I bet they sell like hot cakes.

 

Well it is a better DAC than the full £33k DCS Scarlatti.

 

Damn Keith is managing to turn his dissing of the £120 Beresford into an ad for the $14500 DAC that he sells.

... mind you, there probably isn't a large queue forming!

 

I wonder what the profit margin on the $14500 DAC is.

 

£14.000?

 

The Vekian costs me £4500 approx, which includes shipping and import duties, rrp -40 or 50% is usual I believe.

 

How much do you reckon it costs to manufacture?

 

Racey Hi, I have no idea, I know that Mike (Stahl ), has been working on the design for the last five years, he is a very nice guy give him a ring, regards Keith.
http://www.stahltek.com/index.htm

 

Would be nice if all dealers were as transparent. Fair play Keith.

 

yup, fair play Keith.

I'd like to know your thoughts if you ever get the chance to listen to the latest Mark 6/3 spec Beresford.

Its WAAYY different from previous versions.


Whats these Mods to the Mk3 I hear of????
Might drop Homehifi and email.

 

I can guess the answer to that.

 

Hi Gaz, long time no chat! As for you hearing about mods to the mk 3, id bet that means there will be either a model 6 mk 4 coming out soon, or a model 7 mk1.
If mods are available for the current version, great, but, if (like mine) theres no physical room to do the mods in the box, not good!
I loved my dac, but, as you know, Stanley brings out the "improved" versions so quickly, if you end up with one that cant be altered, you find you have bought an obsolete model thats only been out for a short time (as mine! )
Having gotten that moan out of the way, I think a Beresford dac is a great improvement for lots of cd players, and, if you happen to use a dvd player as your transport, it improves that no end. All imo.

 

The mods I know of are for the MK. 3 version. I live abroad so it was hardly a question of sending Stanley the DAc but I understand he does do them for a modical charge to cover the labour costs. Anyway, he sent me the instructions and I got a mate to do them for me - they consist of cutting a couple of tracks on the circuit board and soldering in a couple of links between certain points on said board.
Anyway, the difference in this case was amazing, blacker silences, firmer bass and much cleaner all round. The CD muddiness disappears. If you have a Mk. 3 I reckon you should go for it.
Chris