I heard the Escient with a Levinson 360S last week. Sounds amazing, but quite a jump in price form the Alpha. I used to have the Alpha and enjoyed it. I upgraded the tubes and it made a huge difference. Call Kevin at Upscale Audio, he will recommend the perfect tube for the alpha.
DAC with Escient Fireball s & FLAC recordings
Current signal path:
Escient Fireball(s) with 600GB of FLAC recordings
Through a CAL Audio ALPHA
(via Audioquest VDM3)
Into a Rotel RSX-1067
(bypass settings)(via Audioquest King Cobra)
Over to a Rotel RB-1080
(AQ Same as above)
Eventually arriving at a pair of Thiel CS1.6's
(via DH Labs ST 14??)
*Misc - REL R-305 sub(via Neutrik(sp) connector coming off the RB-1080)
I can't say I have any serious complaints, however:
Based on the improvements noted with the ALPHA -- I can't help wonder if another DAC may yield even more joy.
Thanks,
--ksr
Escient Fireball(s) with 600GB of FLAC recordings
Through a CAL Audio ALPHA
(via Audioquest VDM3)
Into a Rotel RSX-1067
(bypass settings)(via Audioquest King Cobra)
Over to a Rotel RB-1080
(AQ Same as above)
Eventually arriving at a pair of Thiel CS1.6's
(via DH Labs ST 14??)
*Misc - REL R-305 sub(via Neutrik(sp) connector coming off the RB-1080)
I can't say I have any serious complaints, however:
Based on the improvements noted with the ALPHA -- I can't help wonder if another DAC may yield even more joy.
Thanks,
--ksr