Well, actually there were four DACs. We added a California Audio Labs Alpha with the 24/96 upgrade and RCA tubes (I thought they were Mullards but was mistaken). There was a fifth DAC in the Dynaco ST-35-based integrated amp I brought over. It is a Scott Nixon dackit. We also played the AVA 440EX amp for a while.
As for results, I'll take a shot with the hope that others that were in attendance will chime in. But let me start by thanking Bill and Denise for hosting the madness. The BBQ chicken was KILLER.
We had a pretty loose set of tests, We checked out Ed's DIY ICs along with a some other rectifier tubes (sorry I don't remember what they were). David brought over his Atma-Sphere M-60 OTL monobocks too. We changed out a lot of stuff but here is what was constant.
- Source: Lossless files via Windows Media Player on a Vista machine out put via USB
- Preamp: Randall preamp with Bill's cool dude new Telefunken EF806 tubes
- Audio Kenesis loudspeakers with Bill's usual cables
The DACs tested were:
- PS Audio Digital Link III, stock
- AVA Ultra DAC with 6N1P (Sovtek) Upgrade
- P-Tech P-3a w/ ModWright Signature II Mods and Monolithic P-3 Power Supply
- California Audio Labs Alpha w/ 24/96 Upgrade and RCA 12AX7s
The only unit that has an integrated USB port is the PS Audio and we used it. For the others we used a HagUSB USB-to-S/PDIF Adapter and a 0.5m S/PDIF cable. The USB cable was standard computer grade issue. It's worth noting that due to the big crash on the GGB last night, Peter could not make it so the Paradisea DAC didn't either. Peter, you were missed.
I'm not sure if we had any clear winners in the DAC category other than they all sounded good. The PS Audio and the AVA fared very well. There are two upsampling settings on the PS Audio DLIII. We agreed early on that the 96kHz sounded better than 192kHz so we left it on 96. Some thought the AVA had more depth and was a bit more lush than the PS Audio. Neither were harsh and presented themselves well. The P-3a was popular as well but, to be honest, were what you might call "fatigued" but the time we got to this one. The only real knock on the Alpha was that female vox were a little "shouty." I wonder if this would change with different tubes. All four sounded good in Bill's system. It's no wonder I have such a hard time deciding which one(s) to get rid of.
We also tried out the AVA amp. With 220 MOSFET Watts, it's a close power match with Bill's scary-sexy 200-Watt Jolida monoblocks. A few of us thought the AVA had slightly better bass and high end but the vocals on the Jolida were superior. Hypothetically, I'd choose the Jolidas for overall sound and cosmetics over the AVA but it's close. Factoring in the price differential and the convenience of sand would make the decision more difficult though.
I hope that this is of some use though I'm a lame reviewer. Please chime in guys!
KB
