Ironically, I have been pursuing hard a new DAC and was reading tons of reviews and watching a variety of videos. It wasn’t until I viewed a few that I put it together and realized that some were from that OCD guy mentioned in this Audiogon thread. I also found that he carries one of the DACs in which I’m interested. This led me to his website where I found two things that earned my respect.
First, he is someone who appreciates the contribution the room makes to the sound and advises you don’t go nuts if you cannot hear the sound the equipment provides. From his website:
“Unless you can have a dedicated listening room, especially if you need to share the room with family and you musnt have speakers in to the room , etc, then realize you can take things only so far. Not as far as with a listening room, so make it good and stop there. no expense on equipment can make up for poor room positioning or acoustics. You can still get much enjoyment, and everyone will understand why you keep it sensible and conservative.”
Second, he requires a conversation before you drop (a lot) of your hard-earned cash. From his website:
“We believe that you should have quality products that fit your needs. For that reason, all of our products with a price of $4000 or more requires a brief consultation. We want you to be 100% satisfied and we look forward to speaking with you about this product.”
I look forward to talking with him because I want to know if the crazy money I may be spending will bring me a DAC that is in line with my system or is so far above it I will be wasting my money. As Maghister says, it’s all about system matching.
I had neither seen nor heard of him until this thread and only now am reading it. So far, all OCDMikey has demonstrated to me is that he is human. I have no quibble with that. I trust him and I trust me to figure out if I should not.