First impressions of new MH-DA006, Musetec flagship

Wow, that Musetec MH-DA006 Flagship DAC is a nice looking DAC with a great looking display, well regarded component choices like Mundorf and Duelund caps, and good specs like total harmonic distortion + noise < -120dB, and dynamic range > 129dB (A-weighted). 

Interesting that several well-reviewed $3-4K'ish DAC options have also been released lately:

• Musetec MH-DA006 Flagship DAC ($3,900)
• LAIV Harmony DAC ($2,700)
• Linear Tube Audio Aero DAC ($3,950) (second review)
• Lab 12 DAC1 Reference ($3,300)

Thanks much DBB.  Looking forward to your impressions after burn in.

Does it have volume control?

I'm beginning my search, recently built my system and got a Bluesound Vault to handle my streaming and serve all my CD's. 

My system includes:

Amplification: Two M125 Tubes for Hifi Monoblocks (kits)

Preamp: Tubes for Hifi PH14 (kit)

both components were built with all the available upgrades for wiring, capacitors, pots...

Speakers: B&W 702 S2 pair

Subs: B&W DB4s pair

Server/DAC: Bluesound Vault 2I

EQ: Schitt Loki Max (to handle bad recordings...)

Looking for the next step, not ready to dive into vinyl, space for those discs and the equipment not possible until I finish my house addition.

Thinking I go with a new DAC, somewhere in this range we are talking about on this thread. I was looking really closely at the Schitt Yggdrasil, but curious about the range of options. Seems like there are so many flavors available. 

Main question, is this a range where I should see dramatic improvement over the Bluesound or will it be suttle and a matter of opinion? Have to say, I got the Bluesound only because it was convenient and didn't hear any bad things about it. Now I want to be more deliberate with this selection. The Bluesound will remain in the system but just stream and serve my CD library.

Thoughts?

@dbb 

I to will be waiting on your review.  While the Pontus ll I have sounds amazing to me, hearing reviews from real people makes my ear wonder from time to time.

@gavin1977  Yes. It has a digital volume control. Like the 005, probably the best sound will be with a preamp.

After putting on over 400 hours breaking in the new MH-DA006, I listened for the purpose of comparing it to its predecessor. The 005 received thorough review, comparison, and comment in two threads in this forum. In summary, many felt, at a price of around $3,000, it was equal to or better than dacs costing $5,000 or much more. For those with both curiosity and stamina the links to those very long threads are:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/review-holo-may-l2-dac-and-the-musetec-audio-lks-audio-mh-da005-da

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/musetec-lks-mh-da005-dac?highlight=MH-DA005%2BDAC

I said something like this before, but it’s worth repeating. I will try to describe my impressions with reference to my memory of the sound of live non-amplified music in a real venue. I think a comparison that uses this less subjective base line is more useful than reporting simply on what sounds I like. I don’t care for the dichotomy of analog or digital as a reference standard. I wouldn’t pay over $200 a ticket to go to a concert hall to hear the world’s best dac or turntable. I would pay that much to hear a live orchestra in a good seat at a venue with good acoustics. Even if you never go to a live concert, that standard should still be useful. In the end it’s what ever gives you pleasure. Some conclusions are cliches because they are true. The idea that aesthetic values are personal and relative is one.

I’m going to give you my conclusion first. The 006 does come a step closer to the sound of live music than its predecessor. It is exceptionally outstanding in the reproduction of dynamics, sound stage, and imaging. It has apparent greater resolution than the 005.

First I would say that the overall voicing in terms of tonal balance (frequency response) of the 006 is similar but not identical to the 005. They both can be described as neutral. These next impressions on the differences in tonal balance between the two are subtle and subject to the effects of system differences. To my ear on my system the 005 sounded a touch warmer in some recordings than the 006 in the upper bass/lower mid-range region roughly around 60hz to 75hz. Thus a very narrow range of lower piano notes, lower cello notes, etc. were very slightly less rich on the 006. Also, on certain recordings I noticed on the 006 an occasional incisiveness on higher violin notes and the upper register on female voices. To some, but probably not all, these changes might be welcomed as being more tonally accurate. Others might prefer the very slightly warmer lower mid-range and smoother upper frequency sound of the 005. Again, these are subtle changes.

The 006 exceeds the 005 in reproducing life like dynamics and transient response. There is no issue here as to whether the change is different and maybe better. It is dramatically better.

In 2016, I had the good fortune to attend a concert by the New York Philharmonic lead by Alan Gilbert in a performance of Mahler’s 7th Symphony which was recorded. In my opinion, it was a wonderful performance. In 2017, it was released and available as a hi rez download from various sources. I downloaded it and was pleased to conclude that it is of very high quality. I listened to the 006 first playing this recording and then compared it to the 005.

On recordings containing sharp transients, percussion, pizzicatos, and sudden brass fortes etc., like Mahler’s Symphony number 7, natural pop, feel, and rhythm is more life like than anything I have heard coming from a home stereo. The result is natural 3-d relief and an improved sense of life (more energy) and sound stage depth. Brass and percussion are almost as impactful as what you would hear live. The 006 pushes air in a blow from a kettle drum and solid crisp and tight bass abounds. Familiar music to me, like Beethoven's late quartets, have new intensity. In audiophile speak the 006 delivers near astounding reproduction of micro and macro dynamics. On the right recording, music becomes more intense and imparts more emotion and foot taping. Rock and Roll fans take note. You may find yourself dancing.

Resolution on the 006 was marginally better than the 005 which is a hard act to follow. Like the 005 you could "Feel the air" in a large venue recording in a way that the r2r Holo May couldn’t deliver as previously described in my prior review. I heard more subtle details on the 006 than the 005 on some recordings. This occasionally perceived increase in beautiful orchestral detail may have been created by the superb improvement in dynamics rather than fine resolving power per se. In other words, softer transients may have been pushed forward to become more audible in a realistic way.

With respect to sound stage width and depth and imaging, the 006 is capable of delivering noticeably more than than 005 when the recording contained such information. As an example, I listened to a recording of the Stravinsky Violin Concerto. The width and the depth of the sound stage was dramatically real. Location of the violin and other orchestra instruments was vivid. Better than the 005. The 006 is the best I have ever heard in this department, but the most expensive dac I have ever heard is the $5,000 Holo May.

@dbb Wonderful review, covers all the bases. As you know I've also been enamored of 005 for a few years now. Based on technical details released per 006 not surprised by your impressions, the attention paid to power supplies and layout is really quite impressive. Maintaining a neutral voicing is a smart thing, IMO, I prefer neutral sources, plenty of opportunities to fine tune elsewhere. 

In examining both the design and parts used in 006, this thing is really a freaking value. I trust your evaluation of sound qualities, so add excellent SQ to the equation and you have a must purchase for me. And so I have, expecting delivery in a couple weeks.

 Thanks for a very succinct  review, much appreciated.

@dbb Thank you for a very informative review of the DA-006.  I have been using the DA-005 for a few years now and some recent changes to my system brought out some of the same qualities you attributed to the DA-006.  Most notably, a new preamp, the Raven from Spatial Audio Labs, yielded improvements in soundstage width and depth, better image focus, naturalness of tone, and transparency.  Further improvements in clarity and especially dynamics occurred when I replaced my interconnects with Paul Speltz best XLRs, the level 5.3 anti-cables.  These changes allowed me to hear more of what the DA-005 (and Raven preamp) was capable of and to think the DA-006 improves on these attributes is quite an accomplishment.

@sns  Thanks for the kind words.

I should add that on two occasions I had brief playing disruptions when listening through my streamer, an Ultrarendu.  They were cured by rebooting and reloading the 006 driver and checking and re- entering the streamer settings. I corresponded with Mustec and they were quite responsive. Still the cause is unknown, except it seems certain that it is a settings and software issue. This type of issue is common in my experience. If it repeats, I suspect a driver update will do the trick. Also, I use JRIVER to play files through the streamer. Adjustments there may be in order.

@jc4659  Your experience doesn't surprise me. I would think the first place to go to increase dynamics would be the preamp and amp. Who knew so much could be accomplished through the dac.

I've used 005 sans pre, and with Pass XP-22 and modded Coincident Statement pre's, somewhat threadbare with no pre. 005 easily exposed differences between the Pass and Coincident, and easily exposes differences with virtually every change I make in system. Newer Sabre chips have typical high resolving/transparency of Sabre chip dacs with more natural presentation, need to research differences between the 9038pro in 005 vs. 9039pro in 006.

I'd also expect continued change, albeit more subtle post 400 hours, Dueland caps, silver wire improve with more time.

@dbb 

Thank you for your review of the 006 done in your usual comprehensive style.  I'll have to go back and listen to Gilbert's Mahler 7.  

As others are finding, notably in this thread @jc4659, the 005 responds beautifully to improvements in the overall system.  In stages I have improved my speakers, my amplifier and my AC conditioning, straining my audio budget.  Clearly the 005 is not the limiting factor for me and for others and I am enjoying it even more.  But your review is tempting me.

Once again Musetec has filled its new DAC with some of the best interior components availble from around the world and, unlike many other manufacturers, is proud to tell you exactly what's inside.  The designer, who is a music lover, tests each new part by ear.  In years past we lauded such designers, by name, who mixed technology and art so well.  

Thanks for the review! It certainly looks like a step up in design and engineering from the 005. I’ll be curious to see if the ASR guys test the new unit in comparison to the older one.

@melm 

Good to hear from you. I expected that improvements in my 005 dac would not be a path to improving my system since I perceived the 005 as the strongest link in the chain. When the 006 became available I couldn’t resist buying it. I am also curious about Musetec's preamp.

I like the Gilbert Mahler 7 because I was there, and it was a very good performance If you're new to the Mahler 7th, Bernstein's first performance, in the 60s I think, is considered by some to be one of the very best musically and sonically. I think the one by Horenstein is the best musically but is poor sonically. Just my 2 cents.

@yakbob 

I feel ASR's approach is not useful.

From the Musetec website on the 006:

The design of all functions of the DA006 only takes up one-fifth of the entire design period, or even less. A lot of time is spent on the selection of components and the design of the circuit form. The criterion for judging yes or no is based on the actual listening experience, and the test data of the instrument is only used as a reference. An easily verifiable fact is that when we use different capacitors or resistors with the same paper parameters in the circuit and perform comparison tests through an audio analyzer, we cannot see the difference in test results due to the change of these parts, but the change in the listening experience is huge. Therefore, we always believe that some of the data that can be analyzed by the existing audio analyzers can only quantify certain characteristics of the sound signal to a small extent, and the human listening experience is very complex. The limited data that the instrument pays attention to cannot determine the human listening experience. We must spend a lot of time carefully selecting parts. This is also the reason why it takes us a lot of time to make this DAC.

I must modify my conclusion on tonal balance. I changed streamers to the ifi Zen Streamer. The lower mid- range and upper bass are back to being warm and rich. The highs are still more forward than the 005. It seems, as stated by @sns that the dac will clearly reveal the sound of each component in your system. My conclusions must be seen subject the sound of my components (and yours if you buy it).

@dbb 

One can almost see Bernstein dancing his way through the second movement tango.  The 1964 Columbia recording is remarkable.  My go-to version, since its release, has been the one by Kirill Petrenko with his former orchestra.  

@yakbob 

You don't have to wait for the ASR review.  I'll give you the result right now.  The latest DAC reviewed by ASR is a $99 Topping.  It scores very high at ASR because it is designed to do exactly that.  And of course, as a consequence, it gets ASR's highest purchase recommendation.  You can be sure that ASR's Topping measurements will outscore both the 005 and the 006 DACs each of which will score about the same as the other and the 006 will not be recommended by ASR.  The ASR reviewer does not report ever listening to the Topping, nor the 005 for that matter.  And it would make no difference anyway as he does not hear very well.

As I wrote elewhere: The designer of the 005 and 006 has written that he designs by ear and not by measurement.  He says designing for measurement is relatively easy for a professional engineer.  At various stages he says he made changes to the 005 that could improve measurements but reversed them if the sound quality, as he heard it, was not as good.  If that makes people very uncomfortable, they should probably look elsewhere for a DAC.  Over the course of this audio hobby, and some of us have been into it for a long time, that approach to design used to be lauded.  The designer has given an example in the lack of any feedback in his analog stage.  A lack of feedback is often advertised, and is generally understood to yield better sound quality but poorer measurements.  Op amp chips with feedback are thought to yield a kind of clean but sterile sound, well recognized in all too many DACs on the market.   In other areas of audio, decisions are often made in favor of devices with better sound and poorer measurements than alternatives.  That would include tubes and analog sound generally.

I'm curious about how this dac would measure vs. 005, certain Musetec aware of ASR thread. Would they care about measurements with this dac knowing some make purchases solely on specs, others require both high measured performance and sound quality. Is it possible 005 would have even higher sound quality with better bench performance?

The way I read Musetec's take on 006 measurements is when their speaking to the reasons for choosing certain parts, specifically they mention the Duelund caps. So yes, the Duelund caps will measure essentially exact to any other cap, this would not affect bench performance. Point is I don't see how changing out parts that all measure the same would affect bench measurements. Circuit design has far more to do with measured performance than the parts used, the boutique parts used in 005 should not have impinged it's bench performance.

I think we can all assess sound quality as the most important criteria by which to judge equipment, good bench performance is generally consistent with proper design. I do hope the 006 measures better than 005, I'd expect it does with the information and visuals provided. I suspect some of the changes made from the 005 were made with measured performance in mind, but then they leave things somewhat in air by repeating they tune by ear, not by performance.

@sns

It was said many years ago about audio that if your measuremens don’t correlate with what you hear, you’re measureing the wrong things. As far as I understand ASR has never presented any studies that correlate their measurements with sound quality. Given their overall philosphy, that would probably be impossible as it would call for the addition of what they would no doubt call "subjectivity" to their arsenal.*

As for any proposed correlation between certain "industry standard" meaurements and sound quality, I can think of no better test of that proposition than what I will now propose as the "sns" test. In early 2021 and for some time thereafter you wrote of the audio quality of the 005. And IIUC you have it connected to an audio system of considerable sophistication. All of this was without benefit of the less than glowing ASR review. QED. There is no such correlation and/or the correlation is not particularly strong. In other words, if good sound is what we’re looking for, there is no particular reason to consult ASR.

Better, perhaps to consult sns. Or a well considered review of dbb. Or read of a good many other users who write of their systems, their experiences with other DACs and their musical tastes. Or look at the track record of the company which proposes a new DAC.

I interpret the advertising copy on the Musetec site that you quote to be almost the same as the communication to me at the time of the ASR 005 review. That is to say, the Musetec designer is a music lover and he designs by listening and that is that.

You can hope that the 006 will measure better than the 005, but if dbb is correct, what difference would that make? I, for one, hope that the designer continues to do exactly what he has been doing--turning out terrific components at prices well below that of competitive sounding units.

*Just for the record, in the day, HP denied that the reviews as then done in TAS were subjective.

@melm I agree the subjective is far more important to me than the objectivity of some measurements when it comes to audio equipment, especially dacs. I rereading ASR 005 thread it just reinforced how objectivists don't trust their senses. I'm curious to know if there is any area or thought processes in which these objectivists trust their senses?

The two major areas in which 005 bench performance suffered in respect to their reference were distortion and jitter, the distortion measurements not really a concern as these figures relatively low in comparison to other components in our systems. Jitter more of a concern, jitter has long been known to affect sound quality.

I'd suggest most of the unique sound qualities of 005 come from the parts chosen, ojectivists simply can't fathom film caps that measure the same could have unique sound qualities. This is where they completely miss the boat on the possibility dacs that measure the same or close may have different sound qualities.

So, giving measurements some credibility, I'd certainly like to see lower jitter measurements from 006, usb input looks to be improved. Lower distortion figures if indicative of greater resolving capabilities would be nice.

As things stand I will continue to base my opinion of 006 solely on sound quality, without a set of measurements I have no other choice. ASR won't admit their measurement protocols are without fault or fail to measure the unique sound preferences of individuals. They assume we are merely listening instruments, the ability to hear differences between components that measure the same is held in contempt, written off as faulty sensory perception colored by bias.

I do believe ASR makes valid point when measured specs didn't match published specs, something Musetec didn't directly address. Publishing optimistic measured specs alludes to Musetec being concerned about specs, not meeting those specs is misleading at best. Publish honest specs and clearly state intent of designing to preferred sound qualities vs specs, this would be more credible on Musetec's part. As things stand I could understand a subjectivist reticence to purchase any Musetec product after reading ASR thread. Honesty in published specs should be important to everyone.

I do not think ASR is measuring everything needed to determine if something is going to sound good or not. Based on my experience of buying and comparing highly rated ASR gear with badly rated ASR gear (such as the 005), the testing parameters they use seem to be highly suspect.

Anyways, I ignore ASR now.

@sns I discovered the slight excess in the highs I was hearing on the 006 went away when I connected the 006 directly to the power amp. Of course the great dynamics then dissappeared. Best remedy then seems to be a different pre. I plan to experiment with preamps. I am getting a used Coincident Statement  Mk II. I'll report back.

@dbb Cool! Love my Statement, even in complete stock form a great pre. You have to use Psvane WE101D's in order to extract maximum resolution, transparency, these best 101 tube out there, and I've tried many. The Linlai  Elite solid plate is also nice, Psvane more spacious, airy than Linlai. Lesser or standard 101D will be ok, none are grating or have any tonal anomalies, just less resolving,transparent.  Also, go with XLR out on 006, this is balanced pre so take advantage of that

Still waiting for shipping notification for 006 ordered from Shentzen last Thursday, thinking about inquiring as to status of order. Seem to recall when ordered 005 through Apos having to make inquiry, shipping notification received soon thereafter. How long did you have to wait for shipping on 006?

Thanks for the write up, this thing looks interesting. I tried a few of the older ones (2nd and 4th gen if I recall correctly) and they were promising. But didn't seem fully baked quite yet. The 6 seems like it might be more fully realized. 

@sns  Thanks for the tips on tubes.I ordered direct from Musetec.  It took about 4 days to ship.

@v-fi  I feel I am still offering my initial impressions, not final conclusions. I had another episode of software instability tonight. Did some reloading of streamer settings and rebooting then all was well. I assume a driver update will take care of this. I'm also getting some high frequency excess on a familiar recording that has caused me to question my preamp. My instinct tells me with the right adjustments in my system this dac will be phenomenonal. I'm not there yet. I need more time.

@mitch2  Which of these DAC's have you heard?  I noticed you are doing a comparison in another thread with the Aero how is that coming along?  Is the Aero able to compete with the other DAC's?

@dbb How did you order direct from Musetec, via exchange of emails?  I've never seen purchasing portal at their website.

I'm not happy with Shenzhen, misspoke the other day, actually ordered 9/27, have inquiry in to them for over two days, no response. I may cancel order and go direct through Musetec if I don't hear from them immediately.

@sns Send an email to bleerockat126dotcom. He may have a better price.

@dbb 

Does Musetec have a US repair facility?

@stuartk I don't know.  I think he has a US representative in Indiana. 

The U.S. Musetec dealer is Midwest Audio in Mishawaka Indiana.

@lpretiring 

And they service the units???

@stuartk 

Not sure. I'm only guessing they'd be able to assist with servicing.

Definitely worth a quick call if a purchase is a strong consideration.

@lpretiring 

OK. Thanks. I was just curious. Personally, I'd never buy anything that could not be serviced in this country. 

@stuartk

I thought I’d chime in here as I have followed Chinese direct or semi-direct goods for a long time. I did once send a board back to Musetec for updating. I have a very high regard for Musetec née LKS, its products and how it does business so you can keep this bias in mind.

First, it has to be said that, having followed its digital products closely from the 004 through the 005 and now with the 006 I have yet to hear of anyone having a problem that needs a repair. Musetec’s quality control seems to have been exemplary. So too the quality of its parts. The other factor mitigating any problem is that their DACs are very modular. That means that if there’s a problem, it can usually and easily be traced to a board (perhaps with the aid of an email from the factory.) An offending board can easily be lifted out (a few screws and an unplug) and sent to the factory for repair. That is how most of the direct Chinese suppliers work it even if they have a domestic presense of some sort. The domestic agent might hold your hand in the process if you purchased there. Sending the board to China and its return is no more a problem, and probably less, than sending a complete unit from one US coast to the other.

That being clear, I know that there are probably some folks who will want no part of opening up a component case and removing a board. They will either have to depend upon the very good record of quality control, the very high quality of compnents within and/or possibly the help of a more technically minded friend.

Too my mind the benefits of the high value of direct buying from overseas are clearly worth the limited anxiety. Your money, your choice.

In the interest of comparison I purchased LAIV Harmony dac. Many positive reviews of this dac and I'm interested in hearing a R2R dac vs. Sabre chip 006.

@sns You have ordered both I assume.  Can't wait to read your conclusions. It would be interesting to throw the new Gustard x30 into the mix too.

I haven’t heard it, but someone on another forum mentioned that the Gustard X30 ran very warm, maybe even hot. Sounded like Gustard had to run the new ES9039 Pro DACs pretty hard to get the desired performance in this particular application. A bit of a red flag for me that doused any further interest.

Harmony already shipping, 006 still waiting. In the meantime Harmony vs. 005 will be interesting. Mostly I just want to compare timbre between an r2r and sabre dac, so many claims of how r2r is more 'natural' sounding than sabre chip dacs.

Another sabre chip dac not in my plans, T&A Dac200 would be next in line after 005,006, Harmony comparison. Burr Brown chips for PCM, 1bit for DSD, the 1 bit converter supposedly better.

@westborn 

The ES9039pro (and the Gustard uses 4) is designed to run at lower power consumption than previous generations of ESS DAC chips.  So overheating of the chip not likely.  Something else on the Gistard boards must be running hot and may as a result have a shortened life.  If it is indeed the DAC chips, that might mean an engineering problem at Gustard.  One shouldn't have to run any ESS chip "hard."  So one should not extrapolate from the Gustard to the Musetec.

We have not heard from dbb that the 006 runs hot.  The 005 certainly does not.  Early run 004s ran hot, but that was in the discrete analog section and corrected very quickly.

Interesting that the Gustards are moving well up in price approaching that of acknowledged really fine sounding DACs.

I used to have 2 Musetec 005’s but sold both because it was not great with my tube RAAL VM-1a headphone amp. I loved it on my 2-channel SS gear. This new 006 is something I want to hear.

If someone has a Schitt Yggi+ OG (now discontinued) or the warmer Less Is More DAC I would be interested on how it compares to the 006. The 2 Yggi’s are the 2 best DACs I had used on my gear. The OG being my top DAC, and the LIM sonically similar to the Musetec 005.

@sns

My personal take on a bottom line difference between the sound of the r2r approach, as implemented in the Holo May, and the Sabre dac chip, as implemented in the 005, was that neither was inherently superior. But my preference was the Sabre dac aproach which prioritizes resolution.

The Holo May sounded to me like it took a picture of reality and then added some embellishment as an artist might use charcoal to add depth to a sketch or adjust the light to make the scene softer or more appealing. The background blackness in the May was appealing but, to me, not particularly realistic. In contrast the 005 delivered, in my opinion ,something closer to true resolution based on how the music would most likely sound in real life. For instance you can often hear an ambient noise floor in a hall before the music even starts. That sound is truly natural and is my preference.

I think Sandu Vitalie of Soundnews agrees on the paramount importance of resolution. He calls it “Biggity Big deal” in his comparison of the Gustard with the Harmony.

He said this in his comparison of the Gustard X30 to the Harmony DAC on his web page review: I can’t differentiate it [Gustard X30] from my $18.000 Wavedream Signature or $14.000 Chord DAVE in terms of how much nuance there is. Is it as resolving, clean, and transparent? Yes! And this is a Biggity Big deal. In this regard, X30 pulls ahead and outperforms both the X26 PRO and the Harmony DAC and as much as I like the LAiV for its particular skill set, it’s in the last place when it comes to resolution.

For instance you can often hear an ambient noise floor in a hall before the music even starts. That sound is truly natural and is my preference.

In its early days as a premier producer of great LPs, Reference Recordings used to record that ambience and fill the space between the tracks with it.  So you hear no dead silence there.

@melm 

Thank you for your comments

Both my Hegel H390 and Jay's transport are made in China and both can be repaired here in CA. 

@stuartk

My Subaru is made in Japan and can be repaired in the US. Subaru America is the importer and I bought from a Subaru deler.  That is how most foreign products work when purchased in the US. Hegel is like that, but But Musetec products are not.

The difference between Musetec and Hegel is that Hegel has an American company that does its distribution here. It is Hegel America Inc, in Fairfield Iowa. It’s a wholesaler. It imports the goods. It sells to dozens of dealers all over the country. Its American distributer/wholesaler and its dealers each tack on a profit to the price of the component. So like my Subaru, one can expect repairs to be made domestically. That’s what you’re paying for.

But when you buy a Musetec you are the importer of the goods directly from China either from the factory or from an "order-taker" like Schenzhen (which takes a relatively small mark-up). There is no profit increase as taken by American distributers and American dealers. Normally people, like those participating here, are willing to do that when they sense that they are getting a great deal more value for their money than by going the usual distributer-dealer profits mark-up route.

As ever, your money your choice.

I don’t know enough about Jay’s transport and how they do business and there is too little info on the ’net right now to figure it out.

@melm

I also happen to own a Suburu so your example is very apt.

I bought my Jay’s transport direct from Alvin Chee in Singapore. Repair work is provided by TEK Audio Specialties in Buda Texas. In fact, my remote needed repair and Todd at TEK fixed for me. I was grateful I didn’t have to ship it to Singapore but no doubt there are those for whom this is not a concern. Each to his/her own. 

I'm unaware of any repair needed to a Musetec dac, at least to 005, may have seen issues with 004, but then that was major platform for diy mods and some bricked them.

@dbb I recall your comparison to Holo. One thing that's critical to evaluating R2R dacs that many don't account for is clocking. R2R resistor arrays extremely sensitive to timing errors. USB generally not going to be optimal input, I2S the way to go as clock runs on separate leg. And then in order to reach max potential clock clocking should generally be done in streamer or renderer. The Harmony is the hot dac of the moment (reason I chose it) and I've seen reviews from both complete novices and seasoned reviewers, I've yet to see what I'd consider to be optimal setup in these reviews. I'll eventually purchase either Musician Phoenix or Denafrips Gaia DDC, run this with Audioquest Diamond HDMI (level playing field with my usb cable of choice) and set Harmony to lock to clock in these high end converters. Harmony has been both dismissed and claimed to be state of art or near state of art by various reviewers. Based on these reviews can't say if this all hype or ignorance, I'll try to place it in context by optimizing the entire setup. Going in I don't expect a $2700 R2R dac to be state of art or even near state of art. the amount of technology in this dac is nice value, not state of art.

Going into comparison, I admit bias for Sabre chip dacs, I fully expect even 005 to exceed Harmony in resolving/transparency, 006 even higher expectation. My take on R2R going in is nice sense of musicality, but boring in long run, perhaps even short run. R2R dacs nice forgiving sources that hide warts, Sabre dacs expose warts elsewhere in system, high resolving sources require system fine tuning. This why some claim Sabre chip dacs not musical.

@sns I appreciate your knowledge and insights. My experience now with the 006 confirms what you are saying on exposing the rest of the system. My Hegel P30 preamp may be too bright for the 006.  I will be experimenting with power cords too. It might have been just luck, but the 005 was just drop in. No system changes needed.