I’d personally look/listen to the best Audioquest that I could afford or better yet buy used here or on Usaudiomart. Just an opinion
Balanced DAC — XLR or SE ouputs?
I'm at a crossroads. I am going to switch out my amp, but I'm worried about the whole balanced-thing.
I have the following:
- Schiit Gungnir Multibit DAC
- Zu Omen speakers
Presently I'm using the balanced outputs of the DAC into a balanced amp (Schiit Ragnarok). The SE outputs sound good, but the XLRs better.
What I'm considering is
1) Schiit Freya pre-amp + Schiit Aegir — allows both XLR-input and monoblocks in the future
2) Elekit TU-8600S kit — a 300b amp with only 1 SE-input
I read rave reviews about both. The Elekit seems to be in a much higher league sound quality wise, but also seems much more limited. I've even read people here use the Freya as a preamp for the Elekit amp. In short I'm given the impression that the Elekit is an amazing deal if you can bother building it.
What path would you go down?
Also, can you "keep the quality of the balanced outputs" if you use the elekit with a preamp?
I have the following:
- Schiit Gungnir Multibit DAC
- Zu Omen speakers
Presently I'm using the balanced outputs of the DAC into a balanced amp (Schiit Ragnarok). The SE outputs sound good, but the XLRs better.
What I'm considering is
1) Schiit Freya pre-amp + Schiit Aegir — allows both XLR-input and monoblocks in the future
2) Elekit TU-8600S kit — a 300b amp with only 1 SE-input
I read rave reviews about both. The Elekit seems to be in a much higher league sound quality wise, but also seems much more limited. I've even read people here use the Freya as a preamp for the Elekit amp. In short I'm given the impression that the Elekit is an amazing deal if you can bother building it.
What path would you go down?
Also, can you "keep the quality of the balanced outputs" if you use the elekit with a preamp?