I also own the Zanden combo and think it is very hard to surpass this combo with anything else. Nothing beats Zanden for Jazz playback, not even my beloved TT set up. And it does great with all other music too. I also found Dcs stack analytical (the old one, the new stack I have not auditioned). I also have had Metronome Kalista/C2A sig in my system side by side with Zanden and although the combo and the c2a sig dac was very good, the oversampling signal did sound was less than optimal for my taste,especially compared to Zanden. I kept the Kalista Transport though, as it also works great with my Zanden DAC, But still it can not surpass Zanden combo. Zanden just has that zen like performance with tons of life like characteristics. Because of Zanden, I have been buying way more CDs than I used to!
I have read many reviews of the Esoteric P-01VU/G-0Rb/D-01VU and the APL Hi-Fi NWO-3.0 GO SE with very high interest and believe that these two may be high contender. But these two surpassing Zanden (for redbook) though is highly doubtful in my opinion. Sarajan, i think, has reviewed all three at 6moons. I would suggest read the reviews and try these in you own system, back to back before buying.
Although knowing Detlof's taste and trusting his judgement. I am certainly tempted to try out the Toshiba or ibook, Spoiler, Pacecar combo.
I have read many reviews of the Esoteric P-01VU/G-0Rb/D-01VU and the APL Hi-Fi NWO-3.0 GO SE with very high interest and believe that these two may be high contender. But these two surpassing Zanden (for redbook) though is highly doubtful in my opinion. Sarajan, i think, has reviewed all three at 6moons. I would suggest read the reviews and try these in you own system, back to back before buying.
Although knowing Detlof's taste and trusting his judgement. I am certainly tempted to try out the Toshiba or ibook, Spoiler, Pacecar combo.