[lonewolfny42]

Well, UPS showed up today with two packages , one from AC member, byteme and one from VH Audio. I had asked byteme to loan me his Scott Nixon TubeDac with upgraded power supply, so I might give it a listen. Never heard one in my system, and thought... it might sound interesting. I'll have it for a few days. Thanks Brian !!

The other package came from VH Audio, their new Pulsar IC cables. Those will take some time to break in....but the construction of the cables looks

real good . I'll keep you posted on what I hear. [/list:u]

[witchdoctor]

How does the Tube dac compare with the others you have been auditioning?
Any clear winner yet?
Thanks,
Todd

[MikeCTM2]

lonewolf, what's the word?

-m

[lonewolfny42]

lonewolf, what's the word?

-m

" Thunderbird "....I couldn't resist !

If your looking for a good review , here's one...

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/nixon/tubedac.html .[/list:u]

This is not a review but some comments. I used byteme's TubeDac in my system for about 3 days. I found it less dynamic than other dac's I've tried (ECD-1, Smart Dio , EA Turbomod P-3A), but it's good points,  nice on bass, air around the instruments, did show thru.[/list:u]
It would not be a dac that

I would use, because I'm interested in a different sound. In my system, I use a SS amp and a tube pre-amp. I prefer an up front sound, but not too much treble. The SN TubeDac was not up front enough for me. In other people's systems, it may work well for them , but you have to try it.On jazz and classical sounded fine but on rock and other types, not out front enough for me. (JMO).[/list:u]

I'm starting to come to the conclusion that the "perfect" sounding dac or cdp (if there is such a thing) would be a combo of chips and tubes. The chips for the slam, and dynamics... and the tubes to mellow out the sometimes digital glare. There's so many products on the market today , just a matter of listening in your own system to see what works for you, and gives you the sound your looking for.[/list:u] There was mention in other reviews of inverted phase....this phase, that phase, up your phase ....well, I did not play around with switching cables, just straight into system. What ever came out that's what I heard.
I do own a pair of Scott Nixon Mono amps that I'm happy with(used in a second system), and the build quality of the Nixon TubeDac was very good as was it's external power supply ![/list:u] So , thanks again byteme/Brian for the loan ...a nice thing to do !!!!

[byteme]

Glad you enjoyed it.  I agree that everyone needs to get a listen to different gear and pick what they like.  Compared to all the other DACs I've heard the Nixon is head and shoulders better and for me, I'm very happy with it.  If someone else is looking for another sound then who am I to argue with what they like!  

Chris, thanks for the care of the stuff, everything came back exactly as it went out!

Brian.

[lonewolfny42]

Brian.....thank you ! ! !  (funny, looking at byteme's gallery pic's I see my Scott Nixon amps .... http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;album=106  ... yes, same one's now owned by me. Mmmmm , I wonder if he'd loan me the S2000 to audition ! )

[byteme]

Brian.....thank you ! ! !  (funny, looking at byteme's gallery pic's I see my Scott Nixon amps .... http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;album=106  ... yes, same one's now owned by me. Mmmmm , I wonder if he'd loan me the S2000 to audition ! )

Any Honda dealer would let you audition one of those, but I wouldn't reccomend it unless you're ready to buy!

I really liked those little Nixon amps - great bang for the buck!