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Matching streamer/DAC combination to SQ of my system.

My question may be unanswerable in a meaningful way. I guess what I'm asking is: what would you (who are more experienced than I am) plan to do in my shoes?

I have a nice older amp--a Musical Fidelity A308, once the flagship of their line--and ATC SCM 40 v2 speakers. The weak links in my system are a relatively low-end DAC and the fact that I stream from a Mac. Generally, I don't have a partIcularly warm sound in a complex listening room.

So if I wanted to buy a streamer/dac unit, what price range would do my amp and speakers justice? What would represent overkill, or not enough improvement to be worth upgrading? For that matter, what specific units would anyone recommend? My budget is limited by my common sense, not my bank account.

m669326

Showing 2 responses by soix

soix
10,224 posts
 

Here’s a pretty thorough review in case it helps...

https://soundnews.net/sources/dacs/musician-audio-pegasus-r2r-dac-review/

soix
10,224 posts
 

So if I wanted to buy a streamer/dac unit

Don’t.  Buy a separate streamer and DAC so as tech in either progresses you have the flexibility to upgrade one as needed.  One combo you might look at is the Innuos Zen Mk3 streamer/server that you can also load all your CDs into so all your music comes from the same place and the seat of your chair, and the Musician Pegasus DAC that is an R2R design and may provide you with some natural warmth you seem to be lacking now.  This combo would cost around $3500 but would be much more befitting of your other excellent components, and I’ve no doubt the improvements would be significant if not transformational.  Hope this helps, and best of luck.

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