Any superb balanced dacs up to $2,500 used??


I have not posted in a long while, however am testing the waters on dac opinions. Am currently using a Vecteur L-4 cd player full range, that also happens to make a very good transport- preamp is modded Sonic Frontiers Line 3 (fully balanced). What are the some current favorite dacs out there under $2,500 used? (tube or non-tube)- caveat- must have balanced output, and preferably also a true balanced design.

I have owned Emm Labs gear; AA Capitole (both versions); Sim Audio Eclipse (still miss that one- superb for a one-box and IMO much better than the Capitoles); Spectral 3000/Audio Note 3.1x Balanced dac (I loved that combo); etc. But now, I need a more cost-effective solution- yet would like to border on a superb setup once again, hence the idea being a good deal on a used top-performer dac.

The Audiomeca Enkianthus X seems to be ~ $3k asking used, and I am sure could be had for around $2.5k; the Electro ECD-1 is cheaper (~ $1.2k used)but I'm not sure how good it is compared to the others. One consideration is a locally available Sonic Frontiers Processor 3 @ ~ $2.5k used, which I will be auditioning this weekend, along with a rather elusive Forsell Ref dac (but it's more $$). I would pick up an Audiomat Maestro in a second, but they are very elusive and probably not that cheap used. I like insane build quality; heavy duty power supplies, etc., so please no lightweight contenders! If this doesn't work out, I will probably end up going back to the best one-boxer I can find for ~ $3,500 used (most likely the Eclipse).
sutts

Showing 1 response by jkring

For less than $1000, you could try the Benchmark Dac-1. I have been impressed with mine, though have not AB'd it against much. It's got balanced outs and a volume control.
-J