I should have stated that my goal is not to add a DAC to fix or take a step up from a decent CD player, but to approach the really high end sound without spending a mint. And I'm not into third hand equipment or DIY/hobbist sort of equipment scenes as my system budget is roughly $5000.
Doug S,
When you look at Dan's pricing structure the modded VDA-1 with modded VAC-1 is only $41 more than the modded VDA-1 with straight VAC-1. The $41 gets the customer a Bybee filter.
Is a power supply a power supply? Shouldn't the Bybee filter be worth something? I've only heard dirty versus clean power once, when listening in an older light industrial neighborhood before and after 11 p.m. on Friday night when apparently the local businesses shut down for the weekend.
Dave C.,
We're building a new house with the condition that I get a listening room (no questions asked). So its properly designed and will include a new system. I've already got the speakers, Bob Brines designed/built FTA-2000 (mass loaded floorstanding transmission lines with Fostex F200A full range drivers, 25 - 20,000 Hz in room, 8 ohms, 90 dB/w/m) and a slightly used/newer Sony DVP-S7700.
So now I need the in between stuff. I've been auditioning amps at home. Started with a $1500 12 wpc Decware Torii integrated amp (sounded very nice, but 20 - 50 Hz warble test tones showed undamped bass, and had fairly severe break in issues). Next was a $200 100 wpc JVC RX-ES1SL digital/hybrid receiver (finally hit the 300 hour mark and sounded very good, but lacked the tube midrange magic, still didn't ace the warble test, and was apparently poorly constructed). Now I'm trying out a homegrown chip amp (it does some things very well, but has horrible power supply hum and FM bleed in). I'd like to get some tubes into the mix and am considering a Decware CSP pre-amp.
I prefer to listen to female vocalists, jazz, baroque, and some rock at reasonable volume levels (70 - 80 dB). But I don't tolerate well speakers (typical of single driver designs) that miss the bottom octave.