Best Digital Front End Period!

Tubegroover, do you actually have a budget for your new digital front end? I heard the Linn Ikemi recently and was very impressed by the performance. The improvement over the lower end Genki was NOT subtle in a moderate $7k (with the Genki, around $9k with the Ikemi) all Linn setup. The Ikemi has a very smooth, refined and neutral sound. Not overly warm, but not fatiquing either. The best I have heard at the price. I think I might have found my next digital upgrade. I decided against auditioning the Sondek CD12, for fear of putting my car and apartment up for sale. :) I also noticed many people dumping their Wadia gear on the classifieds, maybe for fear of the company's financial position. It might be a buyer's market for Wadia gear right now. There are also a following that defend the Resolution Audio CD50 and CD55 like pit bulls.

47 labs best i have heard.

Yes I do have a budget in mind, but prefer not to reveal it since it really isn’t relevant to the question posed. I am getting a lot of conflicting information on SOTA concerning digital. I am not nearly as enlightened as many are. Adding to my confusion are the many differing opinions over various digital products. Can I reasonably expect that a relatively inexpensive DVD Transport and upsampling DAC unit (Pioneer 525 and Bel Canto for example) is going to approach the current acknowledged SOTA units (Linn Sondek, for example)? I have heard through some industry people that I can get close and one listener in another thread confirmed that. So the question posed is to find out if indeed there is a concensus on a specific unit or units that represent the SOTA or if there are, what appears to me, many differing opinions. If so are the differences subtle or dramatic? I will spend what I need to get what I want if it’s worth it to me. I personally fail to see how a digital front end or a good turntable tonearm combo (not cartridges) is as system dependent as other components, they are either better or not. Am I wrong in my impressions? I hope these questions are answered.

if your budget is really large, check out the Boulder 2020 advance dac, which sounds its very best mated with the Boulder 2010 preamp. you'll need a transport, of course. i'd recommend the Forsell or Burmester if you want cd only; if you want sacd & cd, check out the Accuphase dp100. if you don't feel like spending >$60,000, i'd very seriously consider the 1-box Accuphase 75v @ $11k retail. for my own system, i run an Accuphase dp-90 cd transport into a dc-330 all-digital preamp ; this pre has the same dac built in as the 75v but, IMHO, sounds even better than that unit, due in large measure to the superiority of the separate transport. both the 75v and 330 are upgradeable via plugin curcuit boards to advd and sacd. tho, i've not yet had it confirmed, i've been told the Boulder dac will also be upgradeable to advd and/or sacd. BTW, once you've listened to any of the prducts recommended above, i think you'll forego the dvd route; you won't get even close to the sound quality with dvd except on the handful of advd discs available. if you want to see how dvd is matching up with sacd availability, take a look @ chad kassim's latest catalog (Acoustic Sounds-available online @www.acousticsounds.com). have fun, but watch your feet. it's a minefield out there.

the Ensemble Dac & Transport from switzerland!!