Bel Canto DAC vs. Perpetual Tech P3A?

ok all ewe bel-canto lovers, i have no experience w/this, but bruce wenger, a local toob-roller & equipment mfr (czech out his www: http://www.bws-tube.com/), sez he has a mod for the bel-canto dac that puts it into the $4k+ performance category. mite wanna give him a buzz... doug

Srama I have no doubt on the chip being the problem. It is the only plausible explanation for what I heard. What is strange is that I E-mailed Perpetutual Technology’s Mark Schiftner explaining the problem thinking there was something wrong with the unit. He E-mailed me a response back a week later. By that time I had sent the unit back to the dealer. He had no explanation on what I was hearing and stated that it was an isolated case and couldn’t imagine what the problem might be. When I purchased the unit from the dealer I was told me the sound was metallic out of the box and would take 100+ hours of break in. After the first week I suspected what I was hearing was more than a break in issue. When PT didn’t respond immediately I didn’t know what to think so I sent the unit back. I had a hard time believing that a product could sound the way that unit sounded without something being wrong but my concerns were never fully explained. My dealer thought the unit was better than the Bel Canto so now with your explanation of the bad chip I suspect there was something wrong with the unit.

I'm looking to use my old CD player as a transport and add a DAC. The units I'm considering: Bel Canto, Perpetual Technologies P-1A/P-3A with power supply, or the MSB Platinum. Has anyone who's heard the Bel Canto and the PT units also heard the MSB Platinum? It's very difficult to find an opportunity to audition them all, especially side by side through the same system.

I have had both the Bel Canto and PT. With my sytem the Bel Canto was more musical. Yes the PT was more detailed but I could not get involved with the music as I did with the Bel Canto. I like musicallity over precision and detail. I was using a Pioneer 525 DVD player. I bet if I used a better transport, it would all get even better. I sold my combo in search of something better. So far nothing. I am going back to get another Bel Canto DAC1 with a better transport. Try them both. I think they both offer a 10 or 30 day offer. Good luck.

Any experience with the Millenium DAC from Electro Visionary Systems (EVS)?? Check tweakaudio.com (mfr. site) and audioreview.com for RAVE reviews. The brand new upgraded model at $850 is due out in a couple of weeks. Looks very interesting!!