Probably a dumb DAC question

Synergy will make or break a system IMO. The sum should be greater than the individual parts. Perhaps that manufacturer's comments are out of context, but that sounds like a very stupid thing to say. They should have said overly warm and lush sounding gear may not synergies very well with their DAC. But then again, would overly sounding anything be a good component anyway?

if I were you I'd get used to the new pre's sound, then, once you've got a sense of its personality, ask yourself if you want a more 'romantic' (maybe tube), 'gutsy', 'analytical', etc. DAC. in some ways, DACs are like cables: the audiophile's way of achieving tone controls (since our pre-amps don't have 'em). changing two important parts of a system in close succession is, IMHO, not a good idea.

Thanks guys,
I have not listened to very many dac's. My opinion about them is like what 2chnlben said (less than warm). I think that the manfacturer caught me off guard.

My budget is about 2k. New or used.

At this point i am using an intergrated with a built in dac and will need a seperate dac for the new pre.

I listen to vinyl most of the time, but I listen to my Mac Mini-pure music set up a lot more than i use to. I really don't want to get into high rez yet. I just want something to do redbook well.

My equipment after setup will be Wilson Sofia's with a Pass XA.30 amp and a Supratek cortese (due to arrive in about 2 weeks).

Matt

From my experence with the Focal Titanium tweeter, I had Mini Utopias and my friend has Wilson Sasha, I would stay away from "hot" sounding DACs. You might look at the new Rega DAC, it has a choice of several filters which make slight differences in the sound according to what I have read. It has gotten good reviews and lists for $995.

I'm using the Eastern Electric Minimax Dac (Mullard tube and upgraded opamps). Probably the most organic, engaging piece of equipment I've EVER heard - with Cardas neutral reference to my pre, Silflex glass toslink to my iMac.