Best Dac/Transport Under 50,000
Tube Research Labs makes a signal processor that meets your criteria. In that price range, I would want an in home trial with my system in my room, but that is probably stating the obvious. http://www.tuberesearchlabs.com/products/mult_proc.htm |
The most "analog-like" sound I've ever heard from digital was the Forsell transport/DAC combination, which was specifically voiced by Peter Forsell to sound that way. My combination of the Forsell transport and the Audio Logic DAC is close to that, with a lot more detail than the Forsell DAC but still a lot of that analog bloom and life. Given what others have written about it, I would expect the pricier Audio Note DACs to meet your criteria as well. I would not say that the Meitner/EMM Labs gear, good as it is, sounds like the analog you're describing--it doesn't sound digital either, though, which is why it sounds so good. And while I like the current dCS equipment, I would not have chosen its prior iterations over my current set-up; it wasn't until they put the Verona master clock into the stack that it started sounding special again to me. |
Boulder 2020 DAC with dCS Verdi transport is the best I have heard. Same DAC with the Spectral transport was too detailed. full dCS stack wasn't quite as good. It's all analog in the end, and many digital pieces overlook the analog sections. I have not listened to Audio Note/MBL/EMM. I also have not heard the dual Wadia rig with GNSC statement mods. www.boulderamp.com |
I just acquired the MBL 1611 DAC and it cost me an arm and a leg. Crazy expensive, but it is by far the best I've heard so far even with the crappy DVD as transport I use right now (no money yet to buy good transport - accepting donations... :) ). Definitely much better than Mephisto II.X (used to own one) and much better than its little brother, the 1511 DAC. If you want to spend 50K, IMHO it's hard to beat the MBL 1621/1611 combo. How about the Boulder Ref. DAC? Anybody ever heard them? One went on sale here a few months ago. |
