Need help matching DAC to speakers and amp

Not sure what your budget is nor what you have experience with, as far as digital sources. I own a B60 and use a Rega DAC. A touch warm and smooth, but definitely not artificially so. The most musical digital source I've owned.

Have you heard the Bryston BDA-1? It's slightly on the warmer side (for Bryston anyway). Obvious synergy. If you've heard the BCD-1, then you've pretty much heard the BDA-1.

In regards to the internal DAC card...

Im not too sold on the whole DAC technology is changing bit. Yeah, USB inputs have, but other than that there's not much the current DACs are doing that the internal card won't do. Maybe super high-Rex like 348 kHz or whatever the ridiculous number is lately. The reason I call it ridiculous is because what music is available in that resolution?

I almost bought the internal card for my B60, but stopped because I'd have had to get rid of my internal phono stage, and I'd only get a single coax input (I need at least one optical). The B100 has none of these issues.

A few downsides, if you will -unlike the BDA-1, the upsampling is not defeatable, and there's one DAC chip vs 2.

I'm not pushing the internal card on you. Sorry if I sound that way. It just irritates me when people advise others to stay away from a 2 or 3 year old design simply because they think the technology has changed so much. I have a 15 year old DAC that ran circles around today's entry level 'giant killers.' In a DAC, just like every other component, there's no substitute for a solid power supply and output stages.

Again, at $1k I love my Rega DAC and haven't heard anything better for the money. That's a preference thing though.

I know exactly what you mean by your system being revealing. My B60 and Audio Physic Yara Evolution Bookshelves are ruthless of everything upstream. Even though they don't have metal tweeters, they still shine a light on any flaw, well, as much as anything can at this level of gear anyway.

Newer DACs only really have a couple advantages IMO...

1) Jitter reduction/reclocking
2) USB input and/or asynch USB
3) High-res capability

Those can equal better sound, but if your catalog is pretty much all redbook and you're not using a computer as a transport, they can be insignificant things IMO.

As I said in a previous post, there's no substitute for a good power supply and output stages. The entry level DACs pretty much all use wall-warts and op-amps. Both are pretty compromised IMO. Yeah, you can get a better power supply like the Pangea unit and/or roll op-amps, but why? Put that money towards a better DAC IMO.

When Bryston developed the BDA-1, James Tanner (VP of Bryston) said they were very surprised how little the DAC chip made. They said it made a difference, but no where near the difference that different power supplies, input stages and output stages made. That was in response to people asking why they used a Crystal chip rather than the flavor of the month ESS Sabre chip or others.

I own a 15+ year old Theta Cobalt DAC. It was their entry level DAC at the time, costing about $700 or so if I'm correct. I auditioned the MF V-DAC and DAC Magic in my system. They didn't hold a candle to the Theta. If DAC technology has come so far in the last 15 years, how come those DACs paled in comparison? The Theta has superior parts all around. It took $1k-ish DACs to get me to open up my wallet without reservation. I also heard the Benchmark and W4S DACs in my system, and the Rega DAC was an easy choice for me. The only sub $1k DAC that had a realistic chance was the Arcam rDAC. The Rega DAC was far better side by side, so no regrets.

Two DACs that get a lot of favorable press around here in the $1k range are the EE Minimax (whatever the current one is) and the Havana DAC. I heard the previous EE DAC, and it was very good. Not exactly my cup of tea, but very good nonetheless. Haven't heard the Havana DAC. From what I've read, I'm lead to believe the Havana and Rega are very similar.

If you want me to get more specific as to why I chose what I did or didn't choose the others, I'll elaborate.

I have the ATV Gen 1. Think of it as a 160 gb iPod with optical output. It also does YouTube and Internet radio. After owning it and using it for the last 2 years, I'll never go back to CDs again. The reason I went with it over a squeezebox (whichever one it was at the time) is that it has internal memory, thereby eliminating the need for a computer to be running. A NAS works the same way, but it's an extra piece and I'm horrible with setting up network stuff.

The ATV is limited to optical digital output (and analog RCA and HDMI). Some people see that as a downfall, but I don't. It doesn't do high-res, and you may run out of room due to the 160 gb not being a whole hell of a lot. My entire collection in Apple Lossless fits with a little room to spare. I'm guessing I have about 400 or so CDs synched to it. I have more CDs actually, but I didn't synch stuff that I never listen to.

I control mine with my iPhone 3GS. Works great. I actually like that better than the on screen display and my Harmony remote, as it's easier to find stuff.

Not sure how many ATV 1s are floating around nowadays.

I think Bryston may have to install the DAC card. Call them and ask, or even post over at the Bryston Circle at Audio Circle. James Tanner (Bryston VP) moderates the board and is a great guy to deal with.