Best used dac under $2000

Bel Canto DAC2 offers great bang for buck for around
1.3k new but even cheaper here... Im listening to one right
now :-) life is good!

Mdomnick,

Its always on... (no external switch) there may
be a way to turn it off but i have never wanted to...
One real nice thing it has also is a toslink and a spdif with a switch so you can have two different sources fed into it and switch between. For instance you could feed a
CD changer into one for convience and a "hi-end" CD for
"critical" listening... I am "extremely" happy with it
I highly recommend...

Good luck

Zaikesman,

Im curious did you get more benefit from the upgraded
PC on the Theta or the XLR's?
I recently upgraded the PC on the BC and was shocked (and still am) at the improvement it really made a nice overall
upgrade... Much fuller rich but still detailed as can be.

Mdomnick,

I would recommend going straight from your source into
the Bel Canto... as you read it does have jitter reduction..
Im not sure about the Chord or Kora... I would guess that they do also.

You could always try your Monarchy in the chain. But i dont
think you would need it anymore.

Rhyno,

Maybe you can explain to us what the Entec does...
If it doesnt upsample or reduce jitter what does it
do? And please feel free to get as technical as you
can for us...
And what is the difference between a 1k CD with a good
DAC and a 5k CD player?

Rhyno,

I agree all those things are "very important" and im sure
they were concerned about jitter even back then. I wouldent
even consider a DAC where the designers havent addressed
those issues.

But the truth is the DAC's have come light years from then... even from two years ago. I have designed many PCB's with A/D's and D/A's the first PCB i ever designed back in 1988 (man im gettin old) was a mixed signal design. And I have seen nothing but improvement in parts quality and ability.

The quality of components, and "attention to detail" of the
designers is what sets the great ones apart from the others.
And i think Bel Canto has done a beautiful job with the DAC 2.
I had the DAC 1 and upgraded with great results.

Is there better? i dont think there is for under 2000.00. If you think the Entec is... then cool i respect that you have your opinion. I can only say i wont be making any changes
except to maybe the DAC 3 if they upgrade again.

Voodoo