I added a ProJect DAC to my Blue Sound Node 2i and found I liked the Node 2i played by itself better. I stream Tidal and for some reason, I sense I hear something different when I play their MQA recordings. I know most of you do not feel the same as MQA. The dealer I purchased my REL S3's from told me the Bellcanto sounds much better. However, it does not completely unfold MQA. The question is does the Bellcanto sound significantly better for twice the price? The problem is you can't take hear a component in your home system before purchasing it. In the case of the ProJect DAC I had to sell it on Audiogon for half the price I paid for it and the same for the Audioquest Carbon digital coax to go with it.
I am beginning to wonder if most of the members think components sounds significantly better because they spend more money? Kind of like the Emperor's New Cloths. When I did a blind testing at the dealer on the ProJect DAC, I picked the Blue Sound 5 times played by itself. However, because the dealer told me I should be hearing greater detail in the cymbols and in the bass I was basically crazy for not being able to hear the difference. Perhaps stepping up to something like the two DAC's mentioned may be what I would need to do in order to really hear a significant difference to warrant the investment. However, again if I am unable to hear it on my system before purchasing, how will I know the more expensive DAC's are worth the money. This is why I feel dealers for the most part are useless. Where is their skin in the game. If the gear they are selling is worth the money they should be willing to put their money where their mouth is. The same thing goes when wanting to hear the more expensive speakers in a speaker line up. Most of the time, the dealer stock only the two lower priced speakers assuming a buyer will not spend the money for the more expensive. If I were a manufacturer and had a retailer that did this, I would pull the line and find someone else to sell their line. In this case, I think it makes sense to buy speakers from a manufacture such as SALK who sells only direct and wait to hear them at an audio show. However, often times the manufacturer showcases their less expensive gear at a show assuming buyers will not spend the extra money on their more expensive line. This is why I think manufacturers to either offer consigned inventory or offer extended terms to a retailer so they can afford to demo their full line up. Many of them work out of their homes and do not have the space so this often is a moot point.
Can't wait to hear some responses on this because so many of the members of this group are dealers who in many instances do some of the things I am talking about. Just mentioning the word DIRECT can make the hairs on their backs to stand up. If dealers are not doing their job if I were a manufacturer I might consider selling only direct.
