Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

MusicMann - I was under the impression that the Evidence was $60k. The Consequence are $70k retail. I stand corrected. But I was not blown away with the Evidence and I heard it twice.

And the Kharma Exquisite speaker line is exceptional but rear ported and thus not a good choice for my room. The Midi Exquisite blew me away, but just wouldn't work for me.

I may end up admitting that the CU doesn't work for me after burn in and all. I have had many exceptional speakers in my room with my current gear and have never experienced a shout before. Which tells me that, logically, it's got to be the speaker. But I don't want to believe that.

I'm going to hook up the Isis speakers today and I'll let yo know my impressions.

I'm also going to bring the CU out into my open basement area and try them there to see if there is still a shout.

Back from a long trip to Japan and a long weekend in Knoxville to see my OU Sooners win a big one.

Just catching up it seems like the room is rearing it's ugly head again. Matt, get Johnny over there to figure out the fix. I'd be surprised if he can't get it done, if you indeed figure out it's the room.

Glad that you did the M1 vs OSDE showdown. I have really liked the M1 when I've heard it, but after listening to so many DAC's I still come back to the OSDE also. I have Steve's back up Mac Mini and so far I have liked it a bit better than all the servers I've had in my system. I have a feeling that will be changing in the next year or so, but prices are going to need to come down too for me to make a change. I still need to get a drive unit and HD to rip my CD's. Any suggestions there will be looked at as I'm finally ready to rip everything as I have upgraded my portable system this week too and I want to be able to copy my music to whatever portable DAP/iphone 6s Plus I go with.

This thread really shows the differences in speaker design. We all hear differently and it shows in the posts in this thread. It seems like we are all grouped into specific types/manufacturers. I give Matt credit for not being tied into one specific and listening with an open mind/ears.

I'm just glad to be back home and getting to listen to my Vandersteen/Ayre/OSDE, Mac Mini/Basis TT sytems with AQ cables and SR Powercell. Proud to own what I do, but I realize that I can get even better sound if I have a lot more money (I don't). Most of you guys are playing on a different level than 99% of us, but after so many months and posts, it sure seems like it comes back to source and room. Without those two things, you won't get the most out of anything. Thanks again Matt.

Not sure how the feet on the Consequence attach, however if they screw on, you might want to try some STILLPOINT ULTRA 5;S and try slanting the speaker slightly back, so that the bottom of the speaker is slightly elevated (slanted) toward your ears. There may be some interference going on with the floor and the two drivers that are closest to the floor. Just a thought.......
Cheers..

Isis report?

Agear - I want to give them 2-3 days to settle. But here is a quick impression. If speakers were like electronics then the CU would be on the solid state side and the Isis would be SET tubes with base. Musical, warm, complex and layered. Like drinking your favorite red wine that you know and love instead of trying the hosts super expensive '47 Chateu Expensivo. I don't want to say they lack detail and high end extension, because they don't. But they don't express accuracy overtly; it's subtle. It's refined accuracy. They sound like they use a big soft dome tweeter that's horn loaded. It's like getting hugged by a huge soft cuddly teddy bear.

They are big and they look like an old tube RCA tube TV set. But they don't do anything bad in my room. No nodes activated, a very subtle shout seldom comes out but does show that it has a horn loaded tweeter.

The Tenor are smack dab in between the Isis and the CU. a world class system can easily be built around any of the three. I need to figure out which works best with what I have. I feel, on first impression, that I would need to reconsider my amp/preamp if I went with the Isis.

I hate giving such stark first impressions but the Isis seam easy to read and very obviously built to accomplish a certain task, to sound sweat and intricate, like a fine dessert wine. I can see their size making room setup tough at a show, but the speaker has a sound that clearly grabs people from the hallway and says " come in and sit. Relax and take a break from the insanity of high fi and let me play you some music."

I can say that the more I listen to them, the more I want to listen to more music. But they make me feel just a little bit stoned and a little bit like I have earplugs in my ears.