I recently purchased an Audio by Van Alstine (hereafter AVA) Transcendence digital to analog converter (hereafter Transcendence DAC-R) and an AVA FET-Valve 350 hybrid power amplifier. My system now consists entirely of AVA’s top of the line components, including a Transcendence preamplifier, Biro L-1 loudspeakers, and a Biro Kensington subwoofer. Speaker and listener positions were chosen using computer analysis of room resonance modes, and all first-order reflections (including floor and ceiling reflections) between the speakers and the listening area have been eliminated with acoustically absorbent materials.
Surprisingly, the amplifier and digital to analog converter made similar improvements in my system’s sound. Although the amplifier had a slightly greater effect on bass quality while the DAC had a slightly greater effect on image size and specificity, their effects were otherwise comparable. This review focuses on the virtues (I have yet to detect any significant flaws) of the Transcendence DAC.
The first of the AVA Transcendence DAC’s virtues is its realism. I suspect this realism is due in part to its superior transient response from the lowest bass to the highest treble. Where most electronics emphasize high frequency transients and shortchange the power of the midrange and the bass, the Transcendence DAC captures the power and weight of live music more accurately than I have ever heard before. For me – and for all who’ve listened to my system – the Transcendence DAC’s combination of power and resolution has made listening much more fun.
Like the sound of live music, the sound of my system with the AVA Transcendence DAC is effortless. Like live music, the AVA Transcendence DAC sounds amazingly powerful; music reproduced over lesser equipment, by contrast, often sounds strained and compressed.
Regardless of the level at which it is played, the Transcendence DAC is able to capture the subjective “size” of instruments. As those of you who attend concerts of unamplified music (and occasionally close your eyes) know, even a solo flute on the stage of a concert hall sounds huge. Most systems make instruments sound small and anemic, thus robbing music listening of much of its joy. The Transcendence DAC preserves much that of pleasing and fascinating enormity. It also reveals the location and dimensions of sound sources – from human bodies to the bodies of guitars -- with remarkable clarity.
With the Transcendence DAC, my AVA system is able to capture the subtle tonality of instruments more accurately than I have ever heard elsewhere. For example, most systems leave some question as to whether you are listening to a violin or viola over much of the range they share (Mediocre systems often make it difficult to tell). With AVA electronics, making such distinctions is effortless. This same characteristic makes it easier to distinguish voices from one another and makes it easier to appreciate the expressive artistry of vocalists and instrumentalists. When I listen to discs I know well, the Transcendence DAC amp reveals musical subtleties I could never hear before or hear on lesser equipment -- regardless how expensive.
Finally, where the vast majority of electronics sound harsh when attempting to reproduce sibilants (s’s, t’s, and f’s), the attacks of trumpets, and the brightness of violins, the AVA Transcendence DAC reproduces these sounds naturally and sweetly while providing unsurpassed resolution of high frequency information.
In sum, the realism, excitement, and listening ease of AVA’s new Transcendence DAC transform listening to reproduced music into an adventure. It is a remarkable technical achievement and, at its price, an equally remarkable bargain. I recommend it – even to those who think know how good reproduced music can sound –without reservation.
I've used earlier AVA digital to analog converters, and have listened carefully to many other devices (as well as a wide variety of high-end CD players) in high end stereo shops across the mid-Atlantic states and in the homes of audiophile friends. AVA digital to analog converters have improved steadily over the years. This, however, is a quantum leap.
P.S. Anyone considering purchasing both the Transcendence DAC and a FET-Valve amplifier should note that the improvement they make when used together is much greater than the sum of their individual contributions.
