DAC diminishing returns

@jjss49 +1

I agree… typically high detail = better soundstaging. To me the real trick… and magic of a great system is to get really natural / musical sound and a great sound stage / imaging without being overwhelmed (disproportionately forward) with details. Often this is where tubes excel.

@oddiofyl 

That can be a really effective strategy. Getting to really know a piece of equipment for an extended length of time, so you really know the sound… then comparing with something better allows for a “deep” and thorough comparison. 
 

Good plan. Good reason to work with a dealer.

Incremental investments in a DAC are completely dependent on your associated components and your anticipated future. So if I had your current DAC in my system (my average component cost is $20K), then upgrading it would provide huge differences each time until I got into roughly the range of my other components. Performance goes up with cost in general.

With the components you have today a Yggdrasil or Denfrips are likely to be valuable upgrades. Now consider you future system. I don’t think I saw info on your streamer. But assuming you are using a PC or Mac… I would upgrade the streamer after the DAC… that should give you a big improvement.

Lets say your current system cost $7K, then if you carefully upgraded all your components one level up, say to the total cost of $14… it would sound a lot better…. If you upgraded to $21K… or $50K, etc… each step would provide a big jump in overall performance. Is this what you see long term? Typically most folks get there by upgrading one component at a time.

If so, then each upgrade should be done with your eye on the next level… matching all the components on that level. This would suggest spending more than just to reach parity with the rest of your equipment.

@danager

+1

I have found that if you carefully research what you want in any component category and invest no less that 2x or more the cost of your existing component you virtually always get a “wow” improvement. Small differences or poorly researched ones get lateral moves.

Also. On the streamer… I have had many starting with PCs and MACs. I recommend not holding back… my streamer is twenty five percent more expensive than my DAC. Totally worth it. The streamer is like the turntable… if you start out with a noisy signal… it does not get fixed. I was hesitant since it was just zeros and ones… but it is like all other components. It really makes a difference. My streamer equals my really good vinyl in sound quality and bests red book CDs.

OP,

Most of us have started out a bit wary of “big buck” audiophile stuff. Most of us then had a world changing purchase. For me, my first audiophile component was a tape deck. I had purchased this highly reviewed “amazing” Onkyo (midfi) deck. ok, yawn, it was fine. Then I had some trouble with it. I went to a high end store and saw a 7 year old first generation 35 pound Nakamichi tape deck. I took it home to try. OMG… I Remember having chills go up and down my back.. goose bumps on my arms. I had absolutely no idea that something like that was remotely possible. It put the performance of the Onkyoin the category of transistor radio. But playing around in the shallow end addind a couple hundred bucks will not do it. This where dealers can help… take an audiophile unit home.

That was the beginning of one of the most rewarding pursuits of my life. You spend some ungodly amount of money on a 30 - 45 pound incredibly well constructed piece of audiophile equipment and the performance is phenomenal and you don’t look to upgrade it for a decade or two. BTW, I don’t think one of my components weighs less than 35 pounds… isolation from vibration, noise… quality components and lots of engineering.

@qkroes

Congratulations. That is the way it starts. My rule of thumb is never invest less than 2x… then you get a profound wow and significant jump in performance. I have gotten them periodically for fifty years as my systems continually exceeded my expectations.