anybody familiar with theta DACs?

beat · « **on:** 5 Jun 2004, 04:57 pm »

Hey all,
I was just noticing how many are out there being traded. Some go pretty inexpensively and they look like they are built well. Anyone know anything about these?

Jon L · « **Reply #1 on:** 5 Jun 2004, 05:11 pm »

Quote from: beat

Hey all,
I was just noticing how many are out there being traded. Some go pretty inexpensively and they look like they are built well. Anyone know anything about these?

Great bargains. You want the Theta Gen V or Va models. They are extremely detailed, fast, with gobs of slam. Some digiphobes accuse them of being "bright," but in a balanced system with a good transport, there are no peaks or unevenness.

Even though I'm a fan of tubed DAC's in general, the Theta's sound is FAR, FAR more preferable to many of today's latest 24bit, upsampling DAC's, which to my ears tend to sound kind of boring.

DeadFish · « **Reply #2 on:** 5 Jun 2004, 09:04 pm »

Hey Beat,

I've got a Theta Basic IIIa DAC I've been real happy with for 3-4 yrs.
It's been a trooper. Sure, I've heard a few other dacs, but none got me worked up enough to move up or over.
The one bite about Theta though is that they are ruthless on their upgrade/repair pricing. Not much on warranty on repairs as well. (3 months on the Theta Basic laserdisk I had fixed {for $400!) and it lasted 4 months.

The IIIa was well reviewed in Stereopile, way back 'in the day' and that, at the time, is what I bought by. It is one piece of hardware I've had little room to regret.
If you find a bargain on a IIIa or better, you might like it.
Good luck!

Regards,
DeadFish

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #3 on:** 5 Jun 2004, 09:42 pm »

During the 90's , there were a lot of back and forth reviews in Stereophile concerning the Theta dac's and PS Audio DigitalLink/UltraLink models(check their site for old reviews). At that time, these were the top dac's around.

Hantra · « **Reply #4 on:** 5 Jun 2004, 11:01 pm »

I don't think they are bright at all.

A friend of mine is selling a Gen V, and I have heard it extensively. I think it sounds great, and is quite lush. For the (used) price, they are hard to beat.