DACs oh my!

Congratulations on your purchase. Speakers that express the sound you are looking for are the foundation for a great system.

I and a lot of folks pursing high end sound see each step taken as a step in the right direction. Hopefully your speakers will move you one step closer to what you want. To get really great sound a great streamer, DAC, preamp, amp and speakers are required. Well chosen speakers (~30%, DAC ~20%, preamp ~20%, amp ~ 20%, and maybe ~10% interconnects… is a rule of thumb estimate of how to maximize the sound quality. 
 

I would not be in a hurry… but enjoy your new speakers. Think about a new DAC after that… then the next step. 

Don't worry about master quality, it's a hoax. Don't know nuttin' 'bout Zone 2. Good luck with that.

I think a good DAC is the most important step you can take in this digital world.

@ghdprentice for me, I’ve always found (at least in surround sound), that a good receiver can make crappy speakers sound better than good speakers can make a crappy surround sound receiver sound.  I had a Denon 3805 receiver many years ago.  To bring in HDMI, I “upgraded” to a Pioneer Elite, and it was a downgrade in sound quality big time!  Night and day difference!  Going from the Pioneer Elite receiver (it was I think a $2800 receiver) to the Denon 4520ci was like going from a Pinto to a Ferrari.  I was sooo unimpressed with the Pioneer Elite series.  Especially the mid levels.  Felt hollow to me.

That said, both receivers are designed with a focus on Surround Sound rather than Stereo Sound.  My problem is that I will be using these speakers for my left and right channel of my surround sound system as well as my stereo setup, so I still want to keep a focus on surround sound, while stilL utilizing these to as much of their full potential as I can in stereo mode.

Eventually, I could get a more powerful preamp to power these speakers, but I don’t know that it’s needed.  Being electrostatic, the real power hungry part is the subs.  The speakers themselves I don’t think take nearly as much power (though I may be wrong).  And in that case, once I get a replacement subwoofer so I have a full 5.1, the subwoofer can make up for any lacking that there may be by only pushing 140-160w into ea instead of their top rated 400.

I love the sound of tube amps, but any kind of audiophile surround sound receiver I’ve come across, has been a pile of junk.  From McIntosh to Acam, they just seem to break far too often.  It’s sad as it feels like they spend so much on nice tube amps built in, and then sacrifice on software and chip quality.  I can’t count how many customers I’ve had to pull these receivers from and send in repairs for them to wait up to 2 months to get it back, reinstall and have the same problem, or another new problem.  Or maybe it works fine, and a month later they call us because something stopped working again.  It’s hard to sell a product when you can’t believe in its reliability!

your best bet would be to get a dac buit into the integrated amp so you can 

drive those spakers properly like a hegel H390 the built in dac is extremelyGood

and of course the amplifier stage is also terrific 

now youhave it all just add a streamer and your esls and you ave agreat  and complete system,

Dave and Troy

Audio intellect NJ

Hegel dealer

@audiotroy problem with that is I’m looking to make these a part of my surround sound too.  That’s great for a stereo listening room, but not so good for a surround sound setup switching between watching movies and listening to music.

Well done going big on the speakers.
(You are not going to fix a bad speaker with a DAC)

I would literally consider running an 1/8 to RCA jack and running sound out of an iPhone for a while.

I have heard good things about @audiotroy ’s shop, so the cheap solution would let you really not rush the front end.

Many people do not get their dream speakers… so you are doing well so far…

Don’t rush it now… and prematurely drop a wad of cash.

@maverick3n1 - I have tried several different apporaches to digital streaming

1. streaming from my computer via USB connection into a DAC using iTunes
2. straming via an Apple TV into a DAC using iTunes
3. Streaming content from the Web and my NAS drive using a Bluesound Node2i via Ethernet

#3 is superior to the other two for the followng reasons

• Sound quality is superb when good cables (power and Interconnect) are used to connect to the Node 2
  • I got rid of my external DAC !
• it can stream from
  • the iTunes library on my NAS drive
  • from a USB thum or USB hard drive
  • my phone (or other bluetooth device)
  • web radio stations
  • almost any streaming service on the web
• has an interface for almost all current device platforms
• Streams content up too 24/192
• The interface is fairly intuitive and easy to use
• software updates are requent and install EVERY time without a problem (something Apple could take note of)
• Installation is a "DODDLE" (i.e. very easy)

Now I may not be considered super picky about sound quality, because I do NOT use an external DAC, mainly because my cables have elevated the Node 2i to levels of sound quality that far exceeds it’s modest price.

So I would have to buy quite an expensive DAC in order to improve on the sound quality of the Node2 - i.e. SIGNIFICANTLY.

Since getting the Node 2i I have not looked for a better sounding solution, because I am very Happy!!

Simple to setup, easy to use, moves with the ever changing streaming market place, GREAT SOUND - what else could you want ???

You could get a DAC to connect with the Sonos Connect...

• you would still be limited to 24/96
• you would need additional cables
• buying the right DAC can be a hit/miss process

The Sonos is definitely the weak link here

Regards - Steve