Mark Levinson 36 dac or Theta Gen V Best?

dgarretson,so,does your sony sound better than the theta? Don't think a pd-75 elite could transport decent?

Gen Va slightly surpasses the stock SCD-1's DAC section, but my modified Sony DAC section is far ahead. In the price range of a used Gen Va or ML 36, perhaps think about something like a battery-powered Altmann Attraction with dejitter option. Any good reclocking DAC will tend to be less sensitive to transport quality. If budget allows another $1K, probably at least worth auditioning a new Bryston BCD-1.

Dgarretson,
This is my stereo,please don't make fun of it but it really doesnt sound to bad.Almost all pioneer elite, receiver 49txi,m-91 amp,dv-ax10 dvd-a player,79txi dvd-a,sacd player,cd players,pd-75,pd-65,pdr-99,pdr-19rw,elite minidisc player,samsung 5000 blu-ray,hd hybred player.The story goes like this.Was really happy with the sound of my system intil the monster 50lb dv-ax10 dvd-a player came in the door.Somewhat close to your sony but not moded.After hearing that for a couple of weeks plain cd's suck!Sound is night and day,you already know this but would like to get everyday cd's sounding somewhat close to that.Am I crazy? I have come across some threads on the net that have said some dac's can get somewhat close to that ballpark.That I guess is what I'm shooting for.Just not sure how to go about it.For speakers,I'm running 4 B&W 802's matrix series 3,and a center matrix and some crappy bose 301's in the middle making 7 speakers.

I don't know all the Pioneer stuff. But based on the Elite multiformat players that I've heard in showrooms, I think a good minimimalist 2ch DAC from a manufacturer other than the consumer giants, should get RBCD close to the level of SACD or DVD-A on the Pioneer. IMO the older ML stuff sounds sterile. The Gen Va is a better choice, but has a slightly synthetic mid/treble region by comparison to more recent top units.

So,what kind of DAC should I be looking at?