Bel Canto DAC3 or Cambridge Audio 840C?

Thanks Meman, this is very interesting. Seems like a winner from what I'm reading. OK I'm taking TDAC into consideration now. I'd really like to hear from somebody who has experience with TDAC and Bel Canto DAC-3. I have read reports of TDAC outshining Benchmark by a considerable margin, which is impressive.

Sorry, not in the market right now. I'm sure somebody will snatch it up on the classifieds. Has anybody heard both the Tdac and the Bel Canto?

Well, to tide me over until I'm ready to go into the $1k range I got myself an MHDT Paradisea NOS DAC with a Tung Sol 2C51 tube, and my goodness I am really enjoying it! I now find myself loving the music again and not getting bogged down by the details! Granted my previous DAC (MSB Link III, and briefly the DAC in my Classe SSP-300 pre/proc) was a weak link in my system, but the kind of smooth, coherent, emotive sound that the Paradisea puts out really suits me. Now I remember why I cling to my tube pre-amp. The soundstage can be a little skewed IMO, and it's not the most detailed, but it doesn't really bother me.

I'd really be interested to read a comparison between the Havana and the TDac. I know there's a thread out there, but only one person had experience with both Havana and TDac (not TaDac).

I'm guess I'm just going to have to get all 3 (DAC3, Havana, TDac) and decide which one to keep.