I think you will like it Red, especially if you go for the latest "do it yourself" upgrade we are just about ready to announce.
The upgrade is to replace the AD817 op-amps in the first current to voltage amplifier section on the digital board with a pair of Burr Brown OPA627AP op-amps. They provide a usefully more transparent sound, a nicer sound stage, and the removal of any trace of solid state dryness from the digital board. The upgrade applies to all AVA DACs using these parts (Insight DACs, Ultra DACs, T8 DACS, and some older OmegaStar DACs).
The cost is $80 for those who dare risk changing out two 8-pin ICs and can be sure of getting them in place in the correct orientation and without bending any pins over. If you don't like it, you can always reinstall the original chips. No satisfaction guarantee on this one. The price breaks down as $70 for a pair of chips and $10 shipping. You might even find the chips lower priced elsewhere.
The "Insight+" upgrade also applies to all Insight preamps too, two chips ($70) per audio section (line, and phono) not applicable to tape buffers. The upgrade does not apply to any of our power amplifiers. They do not use any op-amps at all.
Call me for more details at 651-330-9871. I will post more info herein and at our web site in the next day or two. All applicable new units are shipping with the Burr Brown chips now. If you purchased in the last thirty days, the upgrade is free. If you want us to do it, the bench charge is an additional $50 for the installation and bench testing.
Best regards,
Frank Van Alstine
P.S. All our DACs must use a solid state current to voltage first section because the signal level out of the Philips DAC chip is at too low a level to deal with with pure tubes. The T8 and Ultra DACS follow this with tube and tube hybrid analog filters and analog output stages. The Insight DAC is all solid state.
