Muse 8 tranport + 296 DAC, the best?

FWIW-I currently own Muse 2+ and Muse 5. I told my dealer I wanted to upgrade to the 8 transport and 296DAC and he told me go for the Levinson 360S. He is a dealer for both lines.

I owned the 296 combo for several months and found them to be very difficult to match cables with using the single-ended output. I can't recommend them unless you are using a balanced setup. To me the soundstage was reproduced in a miniaturized fashion, which made retrieval of microdynamics very difficult. Your welcome to a different opinion should you audition them yourself. Regards.

I will use them in balanced mode. I just got word from Kelvin at Muse that the integrated player 9 signature at 4000$ has the same sound quality than the separate combo at 7000$ only lacking some inputs.

British mag's: Bad review in a Brit mag on a Non Brit product? Wow! That's a first! Wake up. I have had the 296/8 for about 1.5 years. It is the best there is (although the remote is not going to impress anyone with its looks, but it works). ML360S? Yes, it has a nicer looking face plate, and that's where it ends.