Mark Levinson No.5101

Friend

Your interest is in a company with a great track record.  However, Digital Technology has marched so far that the difference between $2K and $5K or more is not as wide as it used to be a decade ago.

That said, please look at Chord, Lumin, and Mytek while you are researching.  Conversely, if you are one of those Audiophiles that has always wanted to own a piece of a certain brand - that’s another thing in and of itself.

I'm curious to hear the feedbacks from others as well.  I currently use a PS Perfect Wave DAC II with Bridge and I'm looking to improve with the following optiion:
1. Lumin X1 - very expensive
2. Berkeley DAC Ref + Lumin U1 streamer
3. PS Audio DSD DAC
4. Mytek Manhattan II
5. Mark Levinson 5101?

I demo’d a No526 with that DAC and found it to be completely average at best and way overpriced. It sounded about the same as a handful of very good $2000 dacs which meant at the time I went with the No523 and separate dac. Their new amps,preamps,and integrated amps all are very good at their price-pints however. I still own and enjoy No536 mono amps. 
George