Had the Benchmark DAC3 for 7 years. Ultimately found it analytical and too bright in the lower treble for me. I could not unhear a demo of a MSB Discrete DAC and bought one. Added an Aurender N20 and I look forward to listening to this system every day. Of course I ended up spending way more than I intended but those demos really did the trick. I believe the DAC is the most important component and if I was able to justify the expense I’d even move up to the MSB Premier DAC.
Is there anything other than a Benchmark DAC?
I own the Benchmark DAC3 and love it. I am looking for another DAC due to the addition of a second system. It will either go with a Boulder/Audio Research/(B&W or Vandersteen) system or a McIntosh/Bryston/(B&W or Vandersteen) system. I am looking to try to get something under 3k (maybe 4k) used. I've been looking for a month or so and have seen Bryston (DAC3 wanna be), Primaluna (too much distortion) and a bunch of really old stuff. I have yet to justify any purchase when a DAC3 is sitting there new around 2k with those untouchable distortion numbers. I would love to try a tube DAC tho another solid state DAC would be fine. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Given my DAC3 bias I would love to hear from those whose bias differs from mine.