Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Everyone who reads these threads is generally 'grown up'. That is they think, and can decide for themselves what they are interested in, and I bet we can all agree no one reading this stuff is so mesmerized and gullible that we have to collectively worry about the need to 'save' them.

SO if some guy (and his buddies) spends hours reposting the same drivel praising his particular stuff I think everyone can see through the smoke and realize what it is all about.

I have faith in the average audiophile.

And to mention.. I LOL at a posted comment about Marantz being 'dark'. Now no one mentioned Marantz in this thread until I did about the Marantz SA-10. So the sort of attempt to 'diss' Marnatz was a particularly odd thing. And actually made it pretty clear there was a lot of posturing going on, trying to make the thread a child thread for R2R ladder dacs.
The fact it is a couple of guys does not impress.
I remember KAB 'fanboys, a flock of them always praising KAB and Technics anytime a post about 'What turntable' came along. Same thing. Obvious.

No one cares.
No one is that gullible.

"I have faith in the average audiophile" Elizabeth,  I share that faith. 
I assume that the thread participants are adults capable of independently forming their own judgements.  The  repetitive dogmatic   approach can alienate and thus be unintentionally counterproductive.  
Charles 

Sorry for the delay. I just came home from a week long trip to London and Paris. Great family time. Loved it all. Looking forward to getting some solid listening time in this week though. Yes, I missed my stereo.... I went to one store in London but it turned out to be a tech store more then Audio. Apparently, Diavalet have crossed over to mainstream mass market audio....

I won’t have much to report for a day or three, so let’s run off topic for a bit and hear about trips you guys have recently taken to audio related locations. Shows, intentional trips to audition gear, concerts, anything that involves music, gear and traveling.

Should be a fun diversion.

welcome back buddy.  Glad that it was a great trip.  Elizebeth, I too have heard that marantz.  I think most equate it with their mass market stuff.  Most have not heard their reference gear which is very nice sounding.  I like warm and not 'hot' gear.  I don't put your DAC into either category.  I think it's a fairly neutral sound with a bit of dynamics.  If anything, the soundstage was a bit more intimate than say the Empirical ODSE/SE that I owned.  Steve's gear threw huge stages.  The Marantz seemed to me to be a nice piece.

Next to the Total Dac, this was another jaw dropping moment that really impressed when converting pcm Redbook either 16/44 or 24/96.

http://www.aquahifi.com/la_scala.html

Cheers George