Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD


Hi All.

Putting together a reference level system.
My Source is predominantly standard 16/44 played from a MacMini using iTunes and Amarra. Some of my music is purchased from iTunes and the rest is ripped from standard CD's.
For my tastes in music, my high def catalogues are still limited; so Redbook 16/44 will be my primary source for quite some time.

I'm not spending DCS or MSB money. But $15-20k retail is not out of the question.

Upsampling vs non-upsampling?
USB input vs SPDIF?

All opinions welcome.

And I know I need to hear them, but getting these ultra $$$ DAC's into your house for an audition ain't easy.

Looking for musical, emotional, engaging, accurate , with great dimension. Not looking for analytical and sterile.
mattnshilp
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..
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.
To be honest, that sounds like my cup of tea. I have a lot of bank friends in Charlotte who like big dollar Cabs from Cali that kick you in the balls. I prefer a more earthy, subtle Bordeaux. Bob says Trenner is something to buy when you are done with hifi. That being said, they will obviously need a few days to sing. I don't necessarily think you would need to alter your electronics. I do like the retro aesthetics (as does my wife).

The real problem with speakers (as one wise and older phile once told me) is you have to live with them for a year or more to really properly evaluate them. The real test is whether you sit and listen or fidget and fiddle. What a hobby.....
09-20-15: Mattnshilp
....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....

After almost 50 pages of frenetic, Brownian motion, I think something like this speaker may be precisely what the doctor ordered for ze doctor....