Owners of "Giant Killers"?

Thanks Marko.

My giant killer is a cable -- the Sound Quest Pro Series Zero Point Reference XLR Interconnect. Fantastic neutrality and transparency (I think those are different) for next to nothing. I finally replaced them with very expensive reference cables (it took me a long while to find something better than the Sound Quests) and then changed systems which allowed me to use very inexpensive BNC 75 ohm connectors between the preamp and amps. So, I sold the reference cables but still have those Sound Quests.

As a more pricey "giant killer", the Perpetual Tech DACs (1a and 3a, the latter Wright modified, powered by a Wright power supply) are wonderful for the money. I tried other more expensive DACs and simply couldn't justify the move to a pricier system. That says a lot because, unfortunately, I'm not afraid to spend money for sonic improvements ;-) Different DAC's did present a different sound but something important always sounded worse than the Perp Techs to me. Of course, I have not yet heard some of the Giant Killer DAC's mentioned earlier in this thread. They might be "Giant Killer" killers!

Belles 150a hotrod amp;Placette passive pre--then Audiomecca Enkainthus dac.(version 1)---Own and use 'em all.--All worthy of the Pepsi challenge.

I'm not sure if the APL Denon 3910 at $5000+ qualifies as a giant killer, but it equals some digital giants I've heard at more than twice the price, and it's tremendous in it's latest iteration with 4 DACS, Upsampler, and other optional goodies.

I have not owned a lot of different equipment, but I certainly feel that my current amp could fall into the giant killer category: Yamamoto A-08 45 SET, 2 Wpc of glorious music making amplification. Retails for $2,250. Anyway, in my system, in my room, yadda, yadda, yadda...

Oh, and the speakers that are hooked up to the Yammy may also qualify: Zu Cable Druids.

Gunbei, which DAC won the silver medal?

Mghcanuck and Marko455,

I need to make an apology for insinuating that the Ack! wasn't a good DAC. After rereading my post I'm afraid my humor didn't come through the way I intended and it seemed like I was gloating. Not a very constructive post by me. I'm sorry.

I'd been changing other components at the same time and found a combination that I liked a lot. And I was even more surprised to find that I preferred the cheapest DAC of them all. The Audio Mirror D1. The preamp and amp in my listed virtual system are now the eXemplar Exception II and Bel Canto SET40, and the balance of the Audio Mirror seems to work best for me with these new components.

So in the end, my long time Kora Hermes took the silver. But now all this swapping, listening and testing has me thinking of getting a player like Tvad's. This is madness!