Best DACs under $7,000.00
I'm tentatively beginning the search for a DAC upgrade. Currently, I have Innuos Zen MK3 as a streamer connected via USB to a Denafrips Iris DDC that is connected via I2S to a Denafrips Pontus II DAC. The Pontus II is excellent but I feel it's the one point where I could gain incremental improvement toward that illusive natural, layered, analog end-of-the-rainbow. I simply can't / won't spend above $5,000.00 - $7,000.00 on the DAC. The rest of my system: top-of-line Prima Luna Evo 400 Integrated Amp and a set of Harbeth speakers. Right now, I'm looking at Denafrips Terminator II or Holo Audio May DAC. I've never seen an a/b comparison of these two, but both stand out and have a following. Of course, the unsettling thing is DACs have evolved so much and are still in a blooming state technologically, making it a given that whatever we have today will probably be surpassed by better for less later, like electric vehicles. But that's the nature of the beast. Does anyone have alternative suggestions in this current climate?
@jon2020 , I did that review and it sounds like the Audio-GD is a great value. Wonder if anyone has heard that DAC. The reviewer was raving so much about it. But again - I do not know the relationship between the distributor and the rag. It might be a genuine opinion, but of late I have been looking at everything very cautiously. |
Great thread, because I am just about starting to look for a dedicated DAC. I am tempted by the T+A DAC200 based on @phastm3 post. This comes to me a a genuine recommendation. I had heard about the T+A DAC but never paid much attention. Need to find a way to listen to this one. The Hugo TT2 also tempts me because it is also FPGA based. The Rockna Wavelight was a big let down because it converts DSD to PCM. Had it not done this, I would have purchased it a couple of months after it's release. @gregjacob, @verdantaudio has a nice thread (from last year?) where he compares a lot of DAC. That is also a very informative thread. Did you go through that? |
@kairosman , I thought you liked the Musetec over anything else. |
