DAC at us$1000

At $1000< DAC I would recommend a used or new Bel Canto! sound great smooth from top to bottom, detail, should give it an audition.....Regards, Rute. P.S. Haven't try out the new version yet so can't tell you anything 'bout that.

Yo Ken, Read the review by Robert Deutsch in Stereophile (Dec 2000) of the Bel Canto DAC1. He likes the MSB Link Dac III better for about the same price. Robert raises a good point about the DAC being a means to an end...what do you want your system to be that it isn't now? Smoother or more dynamic? Personally I would skip the DAC because A/V pre-amp processors have them anyway. Upgrade the pre-amp or save your money for a new DVD-audio/SACD player. Blink twice and they will be a $1000 or less. I had the Bel Canto home for a weekend...it is a nice smooth DAC but it didn't sound better than my Rotel RCD-990 and it doesn't have balanced outputs.

I second what rute1 had to say. I am not sure and probably disagree with audiopath because we do not know your other equipment. Using your Sony as a transport along with an up-sampling DAC is the way to go. I have not heard the MSB however I own a Bel Canto Dac-1 which I had upgraded, very good, hard to beat for the price. Hope this helps.