Should I pay a lot for a DAC?

Well, it's the DAC's job to take the 1's and 0's being read off of the CD by the Transport and translate it into the music. Whatcha think?

If you're really serious about this, or find yourself getting more serious as the quality of your listening grows, you're going to find out that EVERYTHING is important.

Not wanting to scare you off, but you're going to find that your system is a whole unit that's only as good as the weakest link. The world's best amp can only amplify the signal coming into it, and then pass it to your speakers. It's like that with every piece, including your albums and CD's, power being fed into your equipment, and even your room and how the music bounces and/or is absorbed.

You'll have to decide how important this is and how much you want spend. The bottom line is that the only thing that's important is "Can you sit back and smile when you are listening to your music?". If you can, that's great!

Chuck

I just read Sundance45's answer, and then looked at his 'for sale' items. If you could afford to buy his Krell KRC-3 pre-amp, it would be a piece that would probably last you the rest of your life.

I had a KRC-3 for 10 years before trading it, and I just traded it because I wanted something new. This pre-amp is a classic. I've seen articles on the Internet about 'stereo pieces to keep for life', and the KRC-3 usually shows up on them, just like the Levinson 36 and 37 Cd and DAC combo. It's that good!

Sundance is asking $1250.00 obo for it, which is what the dealer gave me when I traded mine in. It's list price was $3200.00. Pieces like this could be a cornerstone for your ultimate stereo. And I'm not blowing smoke here, in fact, it may help your stereo more than the DAC.

Chuck