ARC CD 3 mk II upgrade with DAC 8

My front end is all ARC too.

The CD-3 uses the Phillips Pro 2 transport, which is used in the CD-5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 models. I own the CD-8, which is a very nice unit. I previoulsy owned the CD-7, which is very similar to the CD-8, except that the CD-8 uses a Burr Brown 1792 PCM D/A chip. I think the CD-8 sounds better than the CD-7.

The DAC 8 has a similar DAC topology as the ones used in the current CD-6 and CD-9. I believe Burr Brown 1795 PCM chipsets used in quad mono mode. I think you would do quite well using the CD-3 as a transport and the DAC 8 as the DAC ... if the price is right. I think I've seen some preowned DAC 8's being offered for sale on A'gon for $2K+, but I coul be wrong. I also suggest that you use balanced I/Cs between the DAC 8 and the Ref 3.

Btw, I use to own the Ref 3 before moving on to the Ref 5. I think the Ref 3 is a classic linestage that is a tough act to beat.

I also own the Ref 150 amp, the bigger brother of the Ref 75. Your amp is another classic.

I think you have an A++ system.

Cheers,

BIF

P.S. what brand speakers are you using?

I think Bifwynne shares some great information.
I was also going to mention if you have not done so, read the following could also be helpful and goes along with what Bifwynne said:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ddgtl&1393650200&openfrom&1&4#1

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ddgtl&1389119113

thanks for the excellent information. I can acquire the DAC for $2000 and considering my CD 3 is worth around $2000, this would put me at around $4000 in the positive comparative to a new CD 6. this might allow me to take the difference and apply it to speakers. Currently I am using Focal 836V in conjunction with a JL Audio Fathom 110 sub.

Oh yes as my system is strictly digital source at this time, all interconnects and speaker cables are balance using Tranparent with power fed through a Trasparent Powerwave 8

I currently own both a Ref CD7 with the power supply upgrade and a DAC 8. The rest of my system is also all ARC, LS27 and Ref 110. I purchased the DAC 8 to stream music from a laptop. The DAC 8 is all solid state while the Ref CD7 is tube including the power supply. I have played around with the system in the past and prefer the CD7 to either the CD7 as a transport with the DAC 8, or streaming red book through the DAC 8. One nice thing about the DAC is because it is solid state it can be left on so it does not need to warm up. If it were me I would look for either a used Ref CD7 with power supply upgrade or if possible a CD8. If you also want to stream music then you might want to still consider the DAC 8.