you should also try the Wyred4Sound 10th anniversary dac it's about $4,500 US, one of the reviewers put it up against his VPI turntable with a $5,000 Japanese cartridge and he said that the 10th anniversary DAC sounded just as analog and it also comes with a 30-day trial period, on that review I decided to try it and I totally agree this is one of the most analog sounding DACs I've had in my system, no need to spend $21,000 or $80,000 on a DAC, that's ridiculous.
dCS Bartok Apex vs any similar priced DAC
I’m about to upgrade my system from scratch, the speakers will be ATC SCM50ASL Classic active. I don’t have any records, digital rips only on my Innuos Zen MINI & LPSU.
The dCS Bartok Apex direct into the active ATC is where I want to go. Any opinions about any better matched DAC / DAC streamer/preamp combo that’s better matched to the ATC ?
Thinking WEISS 501, Esoteric N-05 XD, Chord DAVE