Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Getting the most from CDs & break-in
I'm very interested in the review of DACs with a focus on Redbook CD. To me, the performance is more important than the medium and for a variety of works, my favorites (classical, opera, jazz) are often recorded in the 1960's, 50's, or even 40's, so getting the most out of them is my top priority.

I'm using the PSA PWD-II and am curious about the DirectStream, as well as the other DACs, since posts frequently comment on how much more information the DS retrieves from CDs than the PWD.

One comment. The PSA DACs (I had the MK-I and upgraded to the MK-II) need a very long break-in time. When I got the PWD, I was ready to return it after too weeks (thin bass, hard treble). When I called my vendor, he asked me to give it a couple more weeks and that after the first two weeks, the sound is at its nadir. Shortly after that, the DAC steadily improved and ended up sounding great. I don't know about the DirectStream, but it may need similarly long break-in period.

Thanks much for the shoot-out, I'm looking forward to your impressions.

Hi Mattnshilp, thanks much for your effort to give an objective evaluation of top tier DACs. I do want to make an observation/suggestion. Regarding the potential impact of tube rolling in the Lampi DAC, you state "Rolling tubes will only change the flavor of the magic".

There are things one knows one knows; those that one knows one doesn't know; but most importantly there are those that one doesn't even know one doesn't know. I have come to be very hesitant to make assumptions when dealing with areas in that last category. I've been surprised many times on what can't matter very much.

Just my friendly input. Thanks again for your efforts.

@Jwm, My PSA PWD-MkII took a month to fully break-in. Now, I wasn't feeding it digital input 24/7, but it was powered on for the duration. After two weeks it was at its nadir. At the end of a month it had blossomed and pretty much reached it's performance plateau. So that's around 720 hours. Had it maxed out at the two week point, I would have sent it back. My ARC REF-3 also took a month to settle in.

Mattnshilp, I was pretty sure that this thread would take off. You could have just as easily done your DAC shootout in private and not had to deal with all the feedback. The degree of interest illustrates how different your "call 'em as you see 'em" is compared to the tiptoeing we get from the "professionals". I'm looking forward to the comparisons yet to come. Thanks much for sharing your ongoing evaluations.