DAC - DCS Bartok or the new Berkeley Alpha DAC 3

With the quality and cost of DACs that you are considering, I would opt for a much higher quality streamer than Bluesound... Perhaps   something like Aurender, Auralic, HiFi Rose ???  Bluesound represents spectacular value but it is also considered more of an entry level unit.  All depends on your streaming service provider too...  GOOD LUCK !

@gerryah930

How does the Esoteric sound compare to DCS, ARC in your opinion?

I currently utilize a DCS Bartok in my system which does pair with a Mac Mc302 and C48 Preamp. I was blown away with the soundstage of the Bartok. Coming from a Bluesound Node2i I was able to hear the comparison. Two completely different leagues. The Bartok opened up the sound and vastly increased both the upper and lower registers with a tighter crisper sound. Best of luck.

I was in the same predicament. I demo’d the DCS which I found very good but unfortunately I couldn’t demo Berkeley.

A local dealer let me home demo a lumin x1 and to my surprise I found the lumin better... so now I own that. Punches above it's price point imo

Go with whatever looks best.