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Upgrade from Benchmark Dac?

The Benchmark USB DAC is the first piece of digital gear that I've bought and been happy with. I still prefer analog but listening to 50,000+ wav files randomly is pretty sweet.

I've had an Audio Research DAC 3 as well as a CD1 which I thought sounded like crap. I have ARC electronics and love them but their digital offerings left me cold. On the value for money scale the Benchmark gets my highest rating although my local hifi emporiums claim the PS Audio or Bryston is better.

Anything out there in the digital world that will blow me away like the Benchmark? I don't want to spend ten times the dough to get a debatable 10% more "sound".
ntscdan

Showing 4 responses by 4est

4est
507 posts
 
Dan,
At the risk of being flamed, have you played with power cords/conditioners with your Benchmark? I've found mine to be very sensitive to such treatments. Are you running it balanced or single ended. USB? From what I have read, I doubt if the PS Audio is enough better to make the switch and the Bryston doesn't have a volume control. The Berkley seems interesting, but pricey(5k) for something soon to be outdated... I too am interested in a switch.

Tobias- What was the input for your comparison of the Stellavox vs Benchmark? I'd love to hear more of your comparison of the two...
4est
507 posts
 
Cerrot,
I concur as I have at least 3x the cost of the DAC 1 on it's power. What are you using?

Luc,
Do you know how the reflection audio mods compare to the parts connexion mods?

Bjpd57a1,

What power cord are you using?
4est
507 posts
 
Chazzbo, I am using a JPS Digital.
4est
507 posts
 
Drubin,

Well of course it's...ah..wacko! That's what this hobby is all about. I didn't plan it that way, it is just how it worked out. I had a Running Springs Haley with a Cardas(mongoose) cord. I wanted to sell it and tried installing a bybee (go ahead and laugh) signature power conditioner and ended up with them in series. Both make a difference, but work on different aspects of the sound. Over the weekend I installed a loaner Bybee super cord and I am really tempted to keep one in but it is pricey. As my original post stated, I am looking for a replacement for this combo. Frankly I was embarrassed to post it for fear of a comment such as yours...
By the way, the power is not very "dirty", but as Mapman said, it is very resolving and the AC stuff has really made a somewhat sterile DAC very liquid on my Soundlabs.
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