What's the best Tube DAC you have heard?

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.

If you want to take a Zanden to the next level, try a digital clock, that will improve the sound considerably making it sound more coherent.

Some users report no difference in sound when trying a digital clock, I suspect the DAC in question has some type of clocking improvement, but the Apogee BigBen had a significant impact on the Zanden.

The nice feature about the BigBen is you could use it as an input switch between various digital devices - DVD player, Redbook transport, PC, cable box.

How much are Zandens on the used market these days?

And which hi rez DACs today might be candidates to dethrone the Zanden?

I've seen them come and go on here, the pre-Signature models (mark 1,2,3,4) I think go for under 5k, and the Signature model seems to go anywhere above 7k (i think).

As for a HiRez DAC, I'm not sure, I have an RME (Pro Audio) Firewire DAC that sounds good for now. It seems the high end world is trying to catch up to the HiRez formats. Not sure exactly what's out there.

I often think maybe going back to a Zanden, they really are that good. The gentleman who purchased my old Zanden was talking about all these other DACs he had been comparing, and then when he received the Zanden, he was floored as well.

With the Zanden, you get it all with no compromise, only you are limited to Redbook CD format - 16 bits. Does not sound digital AT ALL. Period. At the time, SACD never crossed my mind.

Maybe one day there will be a HiRez contender, just waiting patiently.

One more point I have to make, once in a while a high end expensive component hits the market and raises the bar for the competition, the Zanden DAC was one of them IMHO. There are other tube DACs out there for sure, some of them probably very very good, I have not heard them all, but the Zanden is truly a special piece to experience. If you got the $$$, it's a joy to listen too and own.

That was the first component that pushed me into the upper range of audio.

Be wary of those kinds of components, they will cost you more than the price of admission, because then you find weaker links in your system, and you will want to keep going. :)