More money toward better speakers or a better DAC?

“This is a common misconception in digital audio. Price and better have nothing to do with each other when it comes to DACs. That ship sailed long ago.”

Yup, a $200 Chinese DAC is just as good and transparent as $2K, 5K, $10K or $20K DAC 😂

“Are we all ‘cheaping’ out by not spending more for a better dac”

I say pick the best DAC you can afford. IMO, the quality of the DAC is directly related to how important is digital streaming / playback is to you so choose wisely :-)

“Some $200 Chinese DACs are better than some $2K,5K, etc.. It's a very misguided notion that price equates quality. Especially in DACs.“

The only person seems to be misguided here is you. Looking forward to your list of $200 Chinese DAC that are better than $2K and $5K DAC’s.  This outta be interesting 😊

To @mesch point, here is another recommendation to consider,

http://www.borderpatrol.net/DAC.htm

Or this,  https://www.aquahifi.com/la_scala.html

+1, @siox.
@emergingsoul,

“what is special about a tube dac, unless it helps with treble/vocal sounds similar to a tube amp”

The few designers that uses tubes in the output stage believes that tubes yields to a sound that offers slightly more rich harmonics, dense timbres/tonality, liquidity and three-dimensional imaging than DACs that are based on strictly solid-state circuits.

IME, majority of the budget priced DAC’s sound processed, unnatural and un-involving and this is particularly true of many of the new generation hi-resolution delta-sigma DAC’s. They may not lack transparency and micro-details, but they have a tendency to sound thin, clinical and washed-out when it comes to textural weight and the complexity of timbres and tonality.

Whether to consider, DAC’s with tubes in the output stage or not is comes down to one’s personal preferences and rest of the system. But more importantly regardless of what type of chip used in a DAC, the majority of the performance of each DAC relies heavily on the quality of its power supply, analog conversation circuit, overall internal parts and build quality.

I am in a camp where everything matters. As others have pointed out, address the room acoustics before you shell out money for speakers or electronics.

@thyname,

The beginning of your post sums it perfectly for folks like djones51 :-)

“For those among us with no practical experience of ownership and only "skill" internet reading.”