Dac upgrade?


I try to get good sound at a “reasonable” price.  System consists of Magnepan 1.7 speakers, Prima Luna HP amp, an Audio Reasearch SP-3 preamp (purchased almost 40 years ago)  an HRT (High Resolution Technology) dac.  When streaming (I use Spotify Premium.  Never tried Tidal.  Don’t use headphones.  The HRT dac is about 4-5 years old, one of the earlier DACs on the market, I believe.  Was thinking of a not very expensive dac upgrade, such as the Schiit Bifrost.  Two questions for the community.  How likely is it that I will experience a significant improvement in sound with (for example) the Bifrost?  I realize that I can get a 15 day trial which would be my own gold standard.  Of interest, Schiit said they had no idea.  Second question— with a budget of up to $1000, any other suggestions?  I would require a trial for any possible purchase.  One final factor, I am almost 72 and I certainly do not have world class hearing, but I am pretty confident that I can still recognize good sound when I hear it, like the Supreme Court justice who famously said he could not define pornography,but knew it when he saw it.  Thanks!
jameslsimons

Showing 1 response by docknow

I went from an HRT to a Bifrost.  It was clearly better, and that was before Multibit.  The Multibit upgrade was substantial, and i think essential at this point.  If Spotify Premium is 44.1kHz/16bit, I'm sure you will hear a large difference.