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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 kurt_tank

kurt_tank
1,189 posts
 
As a thought, you might want to consider a used Resolution Audio Opus 21. (You can use it as a dac if you wish, but it is a fine stand alone cd player).

A friend has a Vecteur as well, and it is a good cd player. However, my Opus 21 betters it in my opinion.
The cost, used, is about $2,500. (I lucked out and got mine used for a few hundred less and another friend I have got his for just slightly more than I paid, so the price is in your range. BTW, he used to have a Theta, and preferred the Opus. I am not sure which model he had.)

Check out the reviews and discussions about it here and on Audio Asylum. I finally found the cd player I plan on having for a long time to come!

Couple of design points:

It is fully balanced, but the XLR outputs run through a volume control (as do the single ended outputs). There is a din output that is not run through the volume control, which is what I use, since I have a preamp. (I use a din-xlr Audience Au24 cable, and it sounds great.)

The first units came with a noisy transport and a remote that did not support direct track access. This has been rectified for some time now, but if you get a used one, make sure it has the upgraded transport and remote.

My two cents worth anyway. Good Luck in your search!
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