I sold my $20,950 Bartok Apex, bought a $15,000 Ayre QX-5 Twenty (full, ethernet and usb options) and couldn't be happier. The QX-5 is better in every way. It's an easy choice. The timbre(transient information) and bass coming out of the QX-5 is exceptional - with Bartok Apex, not so much. The Ayre L5xe, "Ayre Conditioner," is a power product which makes a huge difference to relax the highs and add weight and extension to the bass. The QX-5/L5xe combo is the most analog sounding streamer I've heard. It makes me think I'm listening to records. The QX-5 should cost 2-3x as much comparing it to Bartok Apex. It's that much better. Cheers!
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As @coleyounger1896 points out, it’s your whole chain including your speakers. If you can audition, audition or you can wind up throwing good money on what can sound terrible in your chain. I’m fortunate to own 3 for different purposes. A DMP 6 Master paired with a Woo Audio WA7, a Mytek BB II paired with Mc MHA 200 and a Meitner MA3 on my main paired with Mc and Sopra’s, yes cabling matters. I’ve sold other dacs that sounded thin, not warm, were bright, and those that were bland. While I took a little bit of loss selling those streamers or dacs / combos lesson learned was @coleyounger1896 stated; it has to play nice with the other toys in your playground or you will have regrets. Costly ones if you can’t unload it on the secondary or trade in market. Good luck on your search. |
@yyzsantabarbara Stated: "I had a $14k DAC mentioned in this thread and it was replaced by a $2.6k DAC that I thought a tiny bit better and a lot cheaper. I used the difference to buy a killer speaker." Can you PM the DAC Types referred to, I would like to read up on these. Not too far down the line the used price of the $2.6K DAC may be very attractive. |
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