Marantz SACD 30N

Hello to all,

I have a perhaps strange, perhaps normal question.

I have a Marantz SACD-30n CD/SACD player.   I like its sound pretty much, and I like what it does (i.e. receives internet radio, can use the DAC portion for streaming from my iPad).  It’s a nice Swiss army knife of a player. 

But I keep wondering:  would a separate DAC improve things, to help digital to sound more realistic/natural/musical?  (I do tend to prefer my TT analogue set-up.) 

I’ve been looking at various R2R DACs or tube-based DACs. 

I guess the entry-point question is how much would I have to spend to notice much of a difference that is truly better? 
 

Thanks for any responses. 

@jdub39  Recently, I tried filter 2.  The sound was more forward, a bit thin, blunt, and hard.  Also, the soundstage seemed kind of blurry with odd proportions.  Instruments seemed cool with less body.

Needless to say, I didn’t care for it.  

@soix You make some excellent points about the obverse of a jack of all trades. 

I will check out the Musician Pegasus II R2R DAC and Denafrips Pontus 15th.

I am resisting any true streaming/streamer. (I guess using an iPad to do Spotify is not really streaming.)  That’s a black/rabbit hole I’d rather not go down.  It seems like an endless trail of more boxes, more cables, and more upgrades—as if audiophilia were not already filled with these. 
 

I’m quite happy with LPs, CDs, SACDs, FM radio, and internet radio (BBC3 and BR Klassik).