[giorgino1]

Hi - April's edition of Stereophile magazine gets to the UK pretty late (like now!) and I noticed that the Musical Fidelity Trivista 21 tubed DAC has been highly rated. I was wondering if there are any MF Trivista 21 DAC owners/knowledgable listeners out there who'd be willing to give their impressions.

I currently have the Scott Nixon basic DAC (untubed) connected to the Decware ZSLA1 acting as the buffer stage.

Many thanks

George

[John B]

I had it in my system for a month.   I couldn't tell any difference between it and the Denon 5900 DACs doing the work.  I sold it.   The guy who bought it couldn't tell any difference between it and the player he had.  He sold it.

[giorgino1]

Oops! THat doesn't sound too promising. I've seen Musical Fidelity stuff in the past getting good reviews and then their products going on sale in the secondhand market only months later...

What do you think could be the  cause of the disparity between the praise heaped on the Trivista DAC and your experience?

[John B]

What do you think could be the cause of the disparity between the praise heaped on the Trivista DAC and your experience?

I don't think there's anything wrong with the DAC, it just wasn't a step up from what I had.  And what I had was very very good.  When you get to the level of gear that this DAC is in, the differences between comparably priced products is pretty small.  I did think its blue glowing feet were mighty cool looking though  

[giorgino1]

Hi John

Thanks for your feedback - I understand that when components reach a certainly level, the diferences are mainly to do with subtle personal tastes in (musical) presentation and synergy. However, considering the price of the Trivista and it's specialised role (ie stand alone DAC) when compared with the Denon 5900 which I believe is the universal player, the MF should be making mincemeat of the Denon. The DAC stage of the Denon SHOULD have been beaten comprehensively by the MF just by the fact that less money has been budgeted for the Denon's DAC.

The fact that it hasn't for you or the guy who bought it off you doesn't bode well.

[John B]

However, considering the price of the Trivista and it's specialised role (ie stand alone DAC) when compared with the Denon 5900 which I believe is the universal player, the MF should be making mincemeat of the Denon

That's exactly why I bought the Trivista, I figured the Denon for SACD, and the Trivista for CDs.   So, when I hooked up the Denon to the CD input on my pre-amp, and the Trivista to another input, and sat there switching between the two inputs, and not being able to tell that I'd even switched, except for a small volume decrease when I went to the Trivista input, I was quite surprised.   I then let it burn in, recommended burn-in is 100 hours.   I gave it about half that, and then tried again.   Same results.   The guy I sold it to, burned it in for the full 100.   And he had the same results in his rig.   I would almost like to try another one, just to see if maybe there was something wrong with that unit, but I can't imagine that if it was defective it would have worked at all.

[KeithR]

When Sam Tellig raves, I stay away.  I know his biases, and his thoughts on music, and just don't agree....and that's the beauty of audio world today is to each his own.