Keces 131.2 versus PS Audio Digital Link III

Great, thanks for the opinion Rotarius! I've decided to give the DLIII a try.

Yes, I would say the DLIII is a step up then, throws a huge soundstage. Another idea would be to try to roll opamps in the 131. The opa627's would work great since you don't need the adapters for them here. I prefered the op604 in the 131, warmer and more bass.

Well I value detail retrieval, distinct placement, sound stage, and depth... this would be my top priority for upgrading.

Would you say the DLIII would be an upgrade over the Keces in those regards? Which did you prefer overall in your system?

I can't say for sure if the PS is an upgrade since I don't know what improvement you are looking for or what you are unhappy with. They are a bit different that's for sure. Some people just don't like upsampling, seems unnatural to them. On some recordings, I don't like the 24/192 upsampling of the ps audio. I am now using a Marantz 7001 as a transport. I would not say the DLIII is better than the 7001, just different. Differences in sub-1K digital gear is subtle at best. The DLIII seems different from the rest because it is obviously colored (voiced) a certain way.

Oops, it was the Keces and Music hall, not PS Audio. Sorry.

neal

I recommend looking for a used Cullen-modded DL-III (specifically, the Stage IV mod by Cullen). You should be able to pick one up at a good price - a grand or (less) I should think. The Stage IV Cullen mod improves upon the stock DL-III by tightening up the bass and smoothing out some of the edginess in the upper frequencies - not a perfect fix, but a definite improvement over the stock version.

I just looked for the review at 6moons. I found a couple articles talking of Keces, but no direct comparisons to the PS Audio. Perhaps I missed it... I often find the layout of the 6Moons site counter intuitive.

@ Rotarius - Your the first person I've heard from that has sampled both the Keces and the PS Audio. I am thinking about selling my Keces in favor of a new PS Audio... is the DLIII a worthy upgrade to the Keces? Did you find it to be an upgrade over the Keces at all?

Thanks for the responses all... any alternate recommendations in the $500 range that you think would top the stock Digital Link III?

Check out current 6moons.com. I think they compare these two DAC's.

Neal

keces, really good for the money and can roll opamps to change sound. Very neutral, well built, no real deficiencies, does not have the bass impact of some of it's competition. Sounded about as good as the Sony 999es transport with a wider soundstage. DLIII is a bit colored, warmish, smooth, relaxed but treble can be a tad dry. Huge soundstage as well. It inverts polarity, correcting it does make it sound a bit different. I prefer it to most of the competition in the <1K category.

I had a PS Audio DLIII in my system for a trial period of about a week. It came across as overly warm and bass heavy, with that coloration overlaying everything. Might work in an overly bright system. Unfortunately, I don't have any experience w/Keces products. I hope this is a little helpful.