Tax refund forces new DAC purchase :)

Ok, so say I have £500 to £750 to spend on a Dac (her in doors needs the rest of the cash), which ones in that price range are good & I can try before I buy?
Coaxial input essential & future proofing with the likes of USB might be an idea but not a requirement today.
I might consider a kit with or without tubes if I could hear one first.
Also it has to beat a Copland CDA823 CDP & Beresford Mk6/3 at the very least.


Any ideas?

 

[QUOTE /Also it has to beat a Copland CDA823 CDP & Beresford22k6/3 at the very least.Any ideas?[/QUOTE]

depends on how you define "beat" I'm in similar position I'm looking for a dac for the short term, this week I,ve compared the the Beringer,ACK and the cheapo MSB and TBH too my ears they all sound pants,I also owned A Benchmark DAC1 in the past not for me either these are all from the pro audio end of the spectrum the point Im making is that beating is subjective,you just got too demo the things,what I personally have learnt this last couple of weeks is that my prefarnce is for a degree of colouration that tube outputs seem to impart,now for me one dac in particular "beats all the above and a few others hands down
good luck on your search

 

Thanks.
One that might fit the bill is a Coop supplied Ackdac.
I must get in touch with him again... The importance to me is to be able to listen to it on my system for a trial period.

 

There are indeed dealers on here selling both the ACK & MSB so a demo should not be an issue,try the Perpetual P3a in modded form if possible great DAC, pm me if you want a dem
Also try and track down a dac with the AnagramTechnologies chip there are only 2 brands using it ,Audio Aero & Orpheus
these 2 is my preference

 

Ya Boo who else is selling the ACK dac ( apart from me) thanks Keith.

 

er i think you'll find that Cambridge Audio also use the Anagram technologies set-up.

it would be closer to the truth to describe it a collection of technologies, as the DAC chip in any anagram set up is totally independant of their timing, reclocking and upsampling technology, which runs off a Black fin DSP .

I'd hold your horses a month or so and wait to see what John Westlake is going to have to offer, he of Pink Traingle Cardinal/Ordinal fame.

 

Thanks for that info, maybe explains why this CDP is so well regarded,I will seek out a unit asap

Keith
regarding dealers I was refuring too you for the{ACK DAC}and the guy in Brighton who markets MSB,sorry for the confusion
you must have tried just about every DAC by now have you heard the Altmann or the Dax decade or the full house modwrighted P3a ? if so does the former match the hype IYHO of course
have you compared the Ack too the Benchmark ? they struck me as very similar

 

I got a Constantine+

Really good...224 notes del to ya door from here....

http://www.geocities.com/mhdtlab/

Review here...

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0406/mhdt_laboratory_dac.htm

Not modded it yet....but I know i will....just to make it even betterer...

Regards

 

Ya Boo, Hi, I would of thought that you couldn't get two dacs that were farther apart than the ACK and the benchmark, the ACK is battery powered NOS, the Benchmark upsamples ( I believe ) I have only heard the benchmark at a friends but it sounded a bit sharp and metallic, I know quite a few guys who preferred the Lavry DA10 to the Benchmark , haven't heard the MSB 'Power ' Dac but I thought the Platinum was pretty good, the differences between all of them aren't huge imho.
Where did you hear the ACK? keith.

 

Kevin,

For your interest, I have comapred my modified AudioSmile DEQ directly to a Cambridge 840C (top one) CD player and they were indistinguishable.

 

[QUOTE I would of thought that you couldn't get two dacs that were farther and the benchmark, the ACK is battery powered NOS, the Benchmark upsamples ( I believe ) I have only heard the benchmark at a friends but it sounded a bit sharp and metallic,.[/QUOTE]

Thats exactly how I describe the B, A/D & B/M et al !!
re the Ack,its been around for a while before you retailed it Keith I bought a B/M from the US long before it was distributed here, around that time an audiophile I know got his Ack but for whatever reason we never got around to a direct comparison

I think you are right judging by what I have heard this week very little too choose between them,they are all to a greater or lesser degree fatiguing to listen too for anything longer than hour.


I've got the chance too listen too an old Cal sigma2 at home this Tues eve its old tech with valves I suspect this type of presentation/ colouration may be more me

 

I was meaning to call you Simon,as always time was the issue ideally I wanted your ears down here to give what I'm sure would have been an interesting prospective on the other dacs
Btw would you be up for a dac shoot out at my place I can prob get 4 together to compare your DEQ with ?
I suspect It would be short notice though you up for it ? and no foo foo cables promise

I'm sure your "take" on the berning amps may be interesting

 

quote

musical fidelity KW D25M???

 

Hi,

You are using Berning amps? I'd be interested to hear those, and love to do a bit of a shoot-out. Let me know when you have the other kit.

 

The best DAC I've heard at that sort of money was the Bel Canto DAC2. For ref, I've owned a Beresford, and compared the DAC2 to the Benchmark and Audiosmile DEQ, amongst a host of others.

 

Hi mr M, is my old Meridian still going strong ?

 

Sorry to say that it's long gone. I've owned four more DACs since then, and heard a good deal more.

 

Have you come across either the Altmann or Dax Decade ?

 

system

Ya Boo what is your system at the moment, if you don't mind me asking> Thanks keith.

 

Nando and someone else on here have tried it i think( the Altmann). It falls into the price bracket nicely for speedy.steve if he gets the Jisco too. Not fogetting the extra for the battery.