I don't know... I've had a bunch of the older DACs like the Monarchy D22B, Parasound 2000, EAD 7000 II, and even had a EAD 9000 in my system for a while.
The EAD 9000 was the standout (and most expensive) of that lot, the others were good, but not "awesome" by any stretch. I also have an old CAL Ikon II, which only sounds good if plugged into my Monarchy Audio AC regenerator.
Then I had a Modwright Perpetual Tech P-1A and P-3A combo, a Bolder Cable modified ART/DIO, a Benchmark DAC-1, a Monarchy M24, and a Rega Apollo, all of which delivered great bang-for-the-buck and likely better high-frequency reproduction than any of the earlier units.
One of my friends has an older high-end Wadia DAC and another an antiquated Sony former top-of-the-line one-box player, and the high frequency performance of those pieces is dreadful to my ears, although the Wadia DAC presents very solid bass and great dynamics. But I couldn't live with either of those pieces long term.
The bottom line is that I don't miss any of the older gear. I would take the Rega Apollo (by itself or with the Monarchy M24), or the Benchmark DAC-1, over all of the previously mentioned gear, with the sole possible exception of the EAD-9000. Another current DAC that interests me, but I haven't heard, is the PS Audio Digital Link III and I believe PS is introducing another new model sometime soon.
Regardless of all of the above, I've been getting back to listening to my analog sources lately -- a renaissance of sorts -- and I'm digging it big time.
