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Which R2R DAC UP TO 1K: ORGANIC, FULL-BODIED, DEEP SOUNDSTAGE

Hi all and hello George,

I`m new to Audiogon and as I have seen from earlier discussions some of you seem to be THE absolute R2R enthusiasts for many years. May I ask you for some help regarding this topic as I`m out for a new dac which should be R2R?

I`m coming from a Lector CDP 707, which is sold now as I got over to streaming, but I bloody regret it. The Lector had all I ever wanted, tonally he played on the warm, full-bodied side, organically with a lot of flesh to the bone and authority/slam and I loved the expansive soundstage, not overly wide but very deep. Bass was punchy enough even for EDM which I listen to mainly.

For the moment I`m using my former headamp as a DAC, the Questyle CMA 600i, with a DS chip on board, AKM 4490. I wouldn`t call it a catastrophe, but of course the signature is lightyears away from the Lector.

When looking for a new DAC I saw that Lector Strumenti offers some too, but I`m afraid my budget is too small with up to 1K, so this is not an option.

In respect of the Lector using the PCM 1704K I thought about (ab)using some vintage gear, for examle the Denon DVD 5000 with 4xPCM 1704J on board too (the Denon has a digital input and could be used as a stand alone DAC too), but I was told the analog stage is crappy and so I got away from this.

Still on my mind is the old Naim DAC and the Bifrost 2 or a used HoloSpring but for the moment I got no possibilitys to test them in my system (I`m using a tube packed preamp and as a headamp the Emotiva BasX 100 with the jumpers set as my "heddphone" requires some juice) and sure I`m open to any other ideas.

So, what would be your favourite devices when looking at my desired sound and knowing what (tiny amount) I got to spend?


It should be able to handle 24/96 btw, but my main concern would be an extremely deep and wide soundstage and a darker organic tonality.

Would be really glad for some help and input.

Best regards
Michael


barrista0611

Showing 2 responses by audioman58

audioman58's avatar
audioman58
3,909 posts
 
The lector having tubes also was a keeper and could have been substantially upgraded ,why did you sell it thst Is a class R2R 
chip you will need to speand 2-3 times to best it .yje Schiit gungner  no where as natural  the R2R  mojo Audiois around #2500 and uses the AD 1865k and is by far the most loaded dac under $5k that's Loaded with  premium modded parts,And using Descreet opamps, worlds best 9- Beloisens super regulators over 247,000 uf in filtering capacitance  big transformer 
and hand match channel biasing of both channels ,nobody else is doing that  at even $5 k .
audioman58's avatar
audioman58
3,909 posts
 
Please remember the Denafrips Pontus ,Venus, terminator all use a new the same processor board with clock upgrade and DSD upgrade ,for $260 us  very easy unplug ,plug in new one  for any dac before March 2020.
Pontus with big seperate linesr power supply and 4 resistor ladder noticably better detailed then Ares2 ,$1000 more, the Venus is the sweet spot it uses 
same resistor of terminator .005 tolerance ,vs .01 for Ares2 and Pontus, 
all are great value and built excellent I just bought the Pontus excellent 
but I heard the. Venus and terminator plus each is sonicly more defined 
deeper soundstage better detail micro,macro.
i am saving for terminator 2 , thst being said I puts super regulator to clear up noise in my SS built computer and Jcat Femto clock usb card which makes a noticable improvement if using a pc , and putting on 5 v Sbooster linesr power to the Jcat card  sounds very good . The Schiit Yggsdrasil ,and mojo R2R dac 
just doesnot sound as detailed and natural as the new Denafrips Pontus .$1800
a steal, if you can stretch to $2800 buy the Venus a bit better detail ,and a bit more depth worth the extrav$$. The terminator ,or the plus &4400,$6500
 exceptional . I had ps audio top $6k dac snow mass ,not as involving one guy on utube says better No way 4 of us compared same day my friend at Audio get together has one he even agreed and sold his . The terminator plus will Best anything at 2+ plus it is a great dac and at 44 lbs a tank.

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