What DAC to use with a Sony XA7ES

Dave, I think you will waste money if you get a cheap dac. I beleive that to beat your player, you have to spend doube of what the player costs, as far as a new source component. I don't know your speaker cables, never heard them, but if you want faster sound and more detail, plus more controlled bass, you may want to try Audience AU24 speaker cables or Acoustic Zen HologramII speaker cables. I think your interconnects are fine. I have the same ones. They do have nice bass, but also are pretty detailed. I'd suggest looking at speaker cables. Also, power cords could bring a nice improvement. If you didn't upgrade PC on your player, I'd recommend Audience powerChord. Works good with digital. What integrated are you using? Is it tubed or SS? Does it accept balanced interconnect? Id yes, you may want to try Sony balanced.

Auphile1 seems to believe the answer to all audio issues is new or different wire. It's a constant theme. Wire change is one approach. It's not the only approach.

I hear differences in wire, and I use some very expensive cabling, however the wire has not had nearly the degree of impact on the sonics of my system as have the the components themselves: amplifier, preamplifier, source, DAC.

Audphile1 also seems to endorse what he owns, and he dismisses what he doesn't. He refers pejoratively to the Paradisea DAC when he writes about cheap DACs, yet he certainly has never heard one. The price has little relation to performance in this case since the unit is made by hand in Taiwan by one man. No advertising. No middleman. No distributor. No traditional retail business model. Therefore the product is vastly less expensive than would be a DAC that's distributed through normal channels.

As I mentioned, I own a "cousin" to your Sony CD player in my Sony CDP-C77ES. The sound through the Paradisea DAC is glorious compared to the Sony's internal stock DAC. My wife noticed the same difference, and she rarely comments on the stereo.

Try whatever approach you like: new DAC, wire, whatever. Keep your mind open to new possibilities. It's the path to discovery.

Tvad, I never reffered to Paradisea DAC. I have no idea what it is.

it's that time of the month for you, ha Grant?

I always knew it.

I used to own the XA7ES. Unfortunately I've never tried any DAC with the Sony before selling it off to one of my buddy so I can't offer any advice. However, just to let you know that even with my CEC transport coupled with the extremely cheap budget Gamma DAC, they outperform the Sony with the most apparent improvement in bass definition. Yes you are correct on the 'heavy' bass which seemed undefined with the 7ES.

11-16-06: Tvad
Auphile1 seems to believe the answer to all audio issues is new or different wire. It's a constant theme. Wire change is one approach. It's not the only approach.

Grant,
Only because cabling and the rest of the system wasn't mentioned in original thread, I thought I'd explore the possibility. Also, because I am familiar with the sound of the Sony XA7ES.

I've heard a cheap dac. Not the one you mentioned though.

And what should I endorse? Should I recommend something I am not familiar with? I can't do that.
Aren't you endiorsing products you own? Moscode, the above mentioned dac, purist dominus power cord? Next time when you try to accuse someone of something, make sure you're not guilty of the same crime.

You seem to take offense when other people's opinions differ from yours. That's fine. You also self-proclaimed to be a moderator to some posts....well sort of...

Have a nice day.