What's the best Tube DAC you have heard?

Thank you all for your contributions here. Definitely gave me something to investigate and that minimax is a interesting piece.

I appreciate everyone's!

Gerald

if you listen to say 100 stereo syetms, each containing a particular component, one may induce, if one observes a consistent sonic characteristic, that the compoent may have a certain quality. such a conclusion is based upon induction.

let's consider an example of a person, whom you observe in many different situations. suppose that person, a stranger, exhaibits a consistent characteristic. one could say, granted, with some probability, that the person has a a particular personality trait.

so to, my comment about the zanden, is a probabilistic statement.

Mr. Tennis - Thank you for clarifying your parameters for judgment.

There are so many variables present in listening to 100 different stereo systems, not the least of which are synergy and the profound effects of the listening rooms they're in, not to mention time between listening and dubious aural memory, that I cannot begin to fathom your confidence in making such a judgment based upon probability. I'm glad you can sort out exactly and consistently which characteristics are being rendered by which component, in each and every case, and keep track of all of it, throughout so much vast experience and exposure. Alas, I am confident that I am not at all capable of such discernment.

i don't have to hear a direct comparison to form an opinion about a product.

If you state, "...it smokes them all," I would certainly expect that you'd made direct comparisons to make such a bold statement, which is quite obviously your opinion (that goes without saying). I think that's not an unreasonable expectation, but I suppose others have become more numb to such rhetoric here.

When I got a Zanden DAC, I stopped thinking about it.

Before owning the Zanden, I had a 47 labs Flatfish/Progression with various tweaks. Before owning the 47 Labs, I owned a Audio Research CD-3.

Before purchasing the CD-3, I had listened to the Mark Levinson CDP, Cary 303 and others (can't think of them all).

The Zanden was in a league of it's own compared to all the ones I listed, not even a close race.

I have since sold the Zanden and I'm looking for a hi rez capable DAC.

hi jax2:

here is another choice which will drive you crazy. my favorite amp is the cj mv 125. i have not heard it my own system, but in many other systems. each time i hear a system with that amp, the system sounds rich. that's good enough for me.

in fact i would propose a wager.

you can provide any number of amps and i will blindfold myself. i will bet i will prefer the sound of the sound of a stereo system with the cj in it compared to the how the system sounds with the other amps in it.

o know, another unscientific proposition.

but i am so confident, i am willing to put money on my intuitive conjecture.

one more thing, when i purchased my speakers, i did not audition it in my house nor compare it to other speakers at a dealer's showroom. it is still my favorite speaker--the original quad (57).

the point is i am able to render judgments about components i like without having to hear them in my own system or compare them to other like-components. i could create a stereo system in such a manner and be very happy with its performance. it certainly is an unconventional and iconoclastic approach that violates accepted procedures for evaluating equipment., but it works for me.

hi jax2:

here is another choice which will drive you crazy.....snip

I'll try to control myself.

It isn't your choices at all that drive me crazy. I have loved the Quad 57 in a friend's system, and probably would enjoy the Zanden and the CJ. I just would not express it quite the same way, and get tired of reading those sort of boring, glorified statements being elevated and hyped to be anything more or less than what they are...simply one person's opinion, just like all the rest. Spare me the rhetoric, please. You stated it far better in the brief statement in your second post, which was straight to the point:

i have yet to hear sytem that resembles the "classic" tube sound to the degree i heard when a zanden dac was part of a stereo system.

Enough said...nothing need be added or subtracted.

As far as your extraordinary abilities of discernment, and remarkable aural memory...whatever works for you. Good for you. You are a god among audiophiles.