tube dac

Tubegroover, thank you for your reponse. Your statements further confirm what I am looking to get out of a DAC - musical involvement. Hearing every single detail never meant that much to me. I just saw a Havana here on the gon for about $550. So, I will wait patiently for the next one and pull the trigger, but only after I buy the pre of course.

Have you considered the Monarchy Audio NM24? You can use it as a pre and a DAC. And, it will give you the ability to compare tubes vs SS. It is quite a versatile piece and like all Monarchy Audio pieces, it is built like a tank.

Hawk28,

Tubegroover described the Havana well, I really enjoy the presentation of the dac and while it isn't the last word in detail it really is very musical. Trying out different nos tubes allows for fine tuning. I also upgraded the Dac chips and this does help with the detail and clarity and is well worth doing IMO.

I have considered the Monarchy piece, but I think I'm a little more drawn to the Havana, for whatever reason. Greg, thanks for the corroboration. I will look for a Havana, and look into the chip upgrade. What chip did you upgrade to?

Hawk28,

The chips are from Arrow Electronics here: onlinesales@arrow.com. The part number and Decription is PCM56P-K/DAC 1-CH 16 Pin PDIP Tube. These are the same chip that is in the Havana, just a higher grade which is the K designation. I believe they are about $13.00 each and you need two. They make a good improvement and are a no brainer for the price. Let us know how you like the dac.

Greg