I’ve heard the Mc DAC1 and compared it to a number of DACs. It is warm sounding, but not very resolving. I’m also an authorized Aurender dealer. The A200’s DAC will be more resolving and articulate, but you may find it is not as warm or musical as the DAC1 in your C2600. If you are interested in continuing to use your A200 for the long term and not upgrade your DAC but are interested in an even better sound, try adding a Synergistic research Tranquility Pod Carbon or Tranquility Base Carbon under the A200. It will smooth out the sound, make it more resolving and focused and increase soundstage size, all while making the presentation more relaxing and refined. Aurender units also respond very favorably to aftermarket analog and digital interconnects and power cables.
DAC Comparison - Aurender A200 vs McIntosh C2600
This is a long shot, but I will ask anyway because it seems somebody somewhere has already investigated just about everything........
Has anyone done any critical listening to compare the DAC inside the Aurender A200 vs the McIntosh C2600?
I recently purchased an Aurender A200 streamer and I am using the DAC inside this unit. My system features a McIntosh C2600 tube preamplifier that has its own internal DAC and I am wondering if one DAC is noticeably better than the other, or if anyone has listened to them both. I tried to do some comparative listening to them both yesterday but it appears I will need to do some firmware updates to my McIntosh before I can do this - hence this post and question.
Thanks from an old analog guy trying to learn the digital streaming world.