I searched through a little reference materials on the two EAD products. I am now unsure which DACs went into what. It seems that only the "signature" model got independent PCM DACs.
It appears these two models (Encore and Ovation) use a single chip for A-to-D and D-to-A. So with that in mind, Harry may be on to something. The more the signal is manipulated by the DAC obviously the more important the quality of the DAC becomes. Though, I still stand by my original assertion that the quality of the total package is more of a factor than the model number of the DACs.
Nevertheless, I will leave the comparison of the two EAD products (Ovation v. Encore) to those who have more experience with them. I have heard the Ovation, and I am pretty sure I have heard the Encore. Not serious listening, just in passing. I remember liking what I heard. Dont recall if it was through the built in DACs though.
There are a few other questions worthy of looking at. Do/will you need a 5.1 analog input for SACD/DVD-A? What about PLII? What is/are the Subwoofer controls, especially for 2 channel?
I got really really close to buying a Classe SSP-30. It was a nice sounding unit. I would bet the SSP-50 that Johnc mentions is a serious contender in this price range. I believe that was Classe's top Processor at the time.
