My NOS dac is giving me noise problems again so it's either a new NOS dac or Vinnie's analog stage mods for the SB3. The problem is at $279 for the mods there are a handful of decent dacs out there.
Any opinions on the value of the RWA mods for the SB3?
Thanks!
Don't forget the extra cost of a digital cable... which could be nothing, depending on how you feel about cables.. if you use a DAC.
There's really no way to compare an unnamed DAC to a modified or unmodified SB3. That said, they are different. I have an SB3 unmodified and a loaner modified SB3 that I've compared. I use my SB3 in an office system and prefer the unmodified version there. However, the modified version would be my choice for the big system. It sounds a little flatter across the frequency spectrum.
If it were me, I'd go with a DAC first... that way you could compare the unmodified to the DAC and see if you hear much difference. If you don't, then you know you could sell the DAC for near what you paid for it and get the SB3 modified for a little bump in performance that could possibly be better than the DAC.
Just my thoughts...
-C
