Shopping for a DAC at AXPONA


I finally retired yesterday (at 77). Since I didn't receive a gold watch, or actually anything at all, from my employer, as a celebratory gift to myself I decided that I would buy a new DAC to replace my Lumin T2.

I intend to listen to several higher-end DACs at AXPONA, but it is unlikely that I shall be able to get more than a cursory sense of their qualities -- particularly given all the other equipment, and the room environment itself, will be far different from what I have at home. Here are the DACs I especially wish to hear:

     Bricasti (M1 Series II and/or M21); dCS Bartok APEX; Lumin X1; MSB Discrete; Playback Designs MPD-6 w/Stream X-2; and Weiss Engineering (DAC502 MkII -4ch and/or Helios).

I would be grateful to receive the thoughts of others about these DACs and, particularly, your thinking regarding any contrasts between two or more of them.

Thanks!

 

128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xjmeyers

Weiss Helios.  I've the Weiss 501 with 4 channel upgrade and it's great!  Have fun at the show for me.

Thank you both for you helpful replies. I had not really considered the Grimm streamer/DAC previously, so I read the company’s website and all discoverable reviews. Consequently, I wrote Grimm Audio to see if I could meet them at AXPONA privately for a few minutes. They have developed a most impressive streamer/DAC!

Sorry you didn't get that gold watch. I can tell from your writing you deserved it. Hope you enjoy whatever dac you choose! All the best!

Congratulations.  You can’t go wrong with any of those choices.  Do features matter to you, such as inputs (I2S, HDMI, etc)?  Something to keep in mind

 

My choice from your list would be dCS

The DAC’S in the Esoteric XD series are real good too. If case you see some at the show.