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Are "vintage" DAC's worthwhile, or is this a tech that does not age well

Hello,
whether it’s worth looking into old dac such as
Spectral SDR 2000,
Mark Levinson No.35 (36)
or so Sonic Frontiers Sfd-2 Mk2 DAC.

Digital audio is the fasted moving, now improving category out there
Because to this day they have no usb connection or other options.
But is it necessary?
Or is it better to still focus on a truly time-tested sound?

(sorry for my English)
128x128miglos

Showing 1 response by mglik

mglik
887 posts
 
To this day, the Audio Note Level 5 Special is a state of the art, sought after DAC. MSRP in 2008 was $80K! It can only be used to play Redbook and SACD only having a SPDIF input. I feel fortunate to own and enjoy a 3 Dimension Audio DAC which was inspired by the AN 5. Like it, a fully tube DAC. It is in my office headphone system with a Theta Compli transport, Bakoon HA-1 and ZMF Verites. I listen to it daily and feel, “Wow, that sounds great”. But when I listen to my TT main system I feel, Wow, I am speechless”
Not to open up that Pandora’s box...
As far as aging digital, for sure 16/44 is not going away and still sounds great!
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