DAC for entry level system

I just got a 2 year old Rega with a year left on warranty for $550 online. So you can have one for much less if that is the route you want to take.

Still waiting for it in the mail. So cant say much about the Rega yet. It will be used with a Marantz CDP 5004 as a transport.

Sterophile has a review comparing V-Dac and Rega. The reviewer liked both said it depends on your system and preference.

The HRT streamers (top of line $375) has a review which says its amazing but you have to use extra USB power hubs to get the amazing results.

All have got a good bit of online press so there is a lot of research that can be done.

I am sorry that sterophile review was comparing Musical Fidelity M1 DAC to the Rega Dac not the $379 Musical fidelity V-DAC MKII.

The MF M1 DAC sells for $799.00. Much closer to the price of the Rega but still cheaper for people who want to buy new.

I just got my Rega and I still need time to really get a good grip of the dac as a whole.

First impressions so far this DAC leads me to believe that many of the reviews on the web are dead on. It has added some new details that my Marantz 5004 CDP missed ($350). Though clearly the added details are small.What it does do is add alot of body and fullness to music. Room filling body. It also throws a nice sound stage which is a big improvement over the Marantz on all recordings. Much less digital sound and the the way it presents music is nice and very cohesive. You can clearly hear voices and instruments yet they flow together instead of hearing things separate but don't seem to come together and make a song come together(Marantz).

I do think the bass is a little much. It does add bass that is not as tight. The bass was terrible with a cheap digital cord from Best Buy. A blue jeans cable has helped the bass and I guess a better cord would do more to help improve the bass. Note that I am in a small room which always held back my bass.

The Rega does have 2 coaxial inputs but would put you over bugets $50-130.

Another Dac that people suggested for me when I was the looking at the same price point used was the Parasound Z Dac. It has good reivews and you can buy new for $500.00 and try it out in house for 30 days through audio advisors.

I ended up going over my $500 budget by $70 getting the rega + shipping. A lot of the used DAC that were priced between $800-$1200 are still above your price used. So you end up having to strech a little or look into buying new $500 DACS.

aLot of good reviews for MDBT Havana (tube) but they don't seem to come up for sale as often.

MDBT does have Dacs that are cheaper that have good reviews. I really wanted the Havana but it seemed like it would have taken a while to find it so I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the Rega because it had many of the qualities I wanted.

The Havana sells for $800 something NEW on ebay so I think a used one should go for below $700. The MHDT Labs Paradisea has a sale pending on another site for around $370. It is the middle tier dac in their line. The things I have read have been good but never hear any of the MHDT stuff.

I still have to say I am happy with the Rega. If I get the bass better controled I will be very happy. My room is really small so it plays a huge role but I suspect a more expensive digital cord will help a good bit too. The blue Jean cable ($20) including shipping was a great improvement of a cord that cost $17.00 at Best Buy.

What ever you get make sure you share it with us. Your in the price range I can afford so anything in that range interests me.

I will give a nod to the Rega if bought used. Its a good dac for someone who wants a thick and rich sound. Good sound stage. Not overly detailed but very nice presention that really makes music flow together very non digital/slight warmness to sonud. It does seem to boost the bass a bit in my system but I think that is why the sound is so rich. Its thick but not slow if that makes sense.

Thanks