Separate DAC for good but old CD Players

I have acquired over the years some excellent but oldish CD Players eg; Marantz CD10, Sony X 77ES, Quad 67. I am looking to buy a used DAC to upgrade their performance. I do not want to spend a whole pile of money in case there is no real benefit - to my ears at least!. I would appreciate some recommendations-those that appear to be siutable include Dacmagic 2i, Audio Alchemy dde1 and dde3, M-Audio SuperDAC, Meridian 263 and the Flying Cow. Advice on the most suitable of these or other suggestions gratefully received.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=81741&item=5718673771&rd=1

This looks quite nice but only 30 mins left!!

 

I use a modified M-audio superdac with my modified CD-16, which was the successor to the CD10.

 

I use the Dax Decade from AudioSynthesis, and this makes me happy.

 

I have an old Pioneer PDS705 with the stable platter mechanism which I had hooked up to an Audio Alchemy Ultra DAC.
The Ultra Dac smoothens the presentation and improves the soundstaging of the stock cdp.

I recently built a non-oversampling DAC and this improved the sound a lot. In fact, I ditched the idea of buyng a new cdp altogether. The non-os dac gives the presentation a more natural (almost analog) sound - no digititis here. It also has more pinpoint imaging and layering. Backgrounds are blacker and resolution is also improved.

 

i use a dax2 also from audio synthesis and i too am a happy bunny. other good dacs are the cec dx51 and dx71, the msb link dac, the benchmark dac and the wadia dacs however the cec's and wadias are pricey.
cheers


julian

 

Have'nt seen much discussion in this forum but the ART DI/O has a big following.

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/1201/anmeetsdio.htm
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze22yzp/id14.html
http://home.ca.inter.net/~cfraser/DIOFAQ.htm
http://gnu.295.ca/peak/audio.html#8
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DIOmods/
http://www.artproaudio.com/
https://www.makingwavesaudio.com/

£167.43 in the UK but can be bough for $125 from the US


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For a wonderfully smooth and enjoyable sound I reccomend the California Audio Labs Alpha and Sigma. Available from Audiogon, with an easy voltage conversion.

I use an Alpha myself. Other forum users have included Adam, Sideshowbob, Lilolee etc.

This is a good choice if you find many CD players have a digital 'edge' to the sound and dont make instruments as realistic sounding as you would like.

Chris

 

You could try the BenchMark DAC-1. See ......

http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/digital/dac1/

for details and reviews. And it just so happens I'm selling mine...........

 

So what does this Benchman got that ART DI/O and M-Audio Superdac 2496 hasn't then?!

 

I've never owned the components you refer to, so I can't say. Possibly that the Benchmark has built-in pre-amp/volume control and can be used to connect directly to a power amp (as I have been doing).

You could, of course, have followed the link and read for yourself.

Just an extra option for 'hifileslie' to investigate/consider, if he/she wishes.

Jeez. Some people are sooooooooo touchy.

 

Hey! take it easy!
Just trying to get your personal opinion of it, that all!
No Stick

 

I still got some saved pics of it. Great job

I was after the one modded by WM but heard about the sale too late

 

Sorry. I made the mistake of assuming that the "!" character had been used for a specific reason.

 

Out of curiosity, which one ?? AN??

 

Possibley either of the DAC's here http://www.scott-nixon.com/

 

Lee,
Your avatar is so apt for this forum sir. Excellent

 

Stickman how much are you selling for? Is it in the buy/sell section, I couldn't see on the first page.