Paradisea owners

Depending on the input impedance of your preamp, a solid state DAC may have more extended, and better defined bass and treble versus the tubed Paradisea.

Some may interpret this as sounding better. Would you?

If you are seeking a more relaxed sound, then likely a tubed DAC will be a better fit for your preferences. With some preamps, a tubed DAC will have slightly rolled off, less defined bass and treble, which will result in a relaxed, "natural" sound.

The term, natural, is open to interpretation. One person's natural will be another person's colored (and unnatural).

Synergy is the only sure bet.Like you say PS audio,maybe Wavelength for a grand also to try.Plus the resale is phenomenal[sp] on those 2 units,good luck,Bob

I've been happy with mine, but can't help wonder what else is out there.

This is where it all begins....

God help you...or budha...or Allah...somebody, help poor Mingles!

Tvad, can you briefly explain the impedance issue? The input of my preamp is 100k. The Paradisea output is 800 ohms.

Yep, this is where it all starts! Before I do anything crazy, I'd like to try some different tubes. I haven't used anything other than the stock JAN 5670. I'd also like to experiment with output caps (Obbligato Copper, Mundorf SIO). Generally speaking, I can keep myself amused and engaged with tweaks like this if the unit is good to begin with.

With an input impedance of 100k ohms, you have no matching issues with either tube or solid state sources.

If the input impedance was under 40k ohms, or so, you might have heard roll off with the Paradisea.