older dacs


I have decided to go with a dac rather than buy a new cd player. I feel the transport on my sony dvp s-7700 is still good.

I do have a question however. Has the technology changed that much in dacs where it warrants buying new. Am I better off to buy something that is a few years old for $500 or buy something new for $500. The one that is $500 used probably cost over $1000 new at one time. Not that price always relates to performance.

Also what are your thoughts on tubed dacs. The rest of my gear is SS and I like to leave it on. Will leaving a tubed dac on just put unnecessary wear on tubes.

Let me know
tiggerpooh

Showing 1 response by listener57

Just a plug for a recent Audiogon discovery, the totally revealing Auricle Audio Design Encore Signature digital IC. Lets both tube and solid state DAC's sound so much better than previously in each of my systems where inserted. Both a really old classic Anodyne tube DAC by Scott Nixon, and a less old classic solid state Millennium II DAC by Ric Schultz revealed to be even better than already thought.
The attributes of each DAC honored while seeming to maximally transmit every bit of musicality and detail in any recording.
And, as Gmood1 posted, cymbal reproduction can often signal when a system is optimized. Apparently, what allows cymbals to really distinguish themselves also allows a clearing up or un-jumbling of the rest of the recording.