Shanling CDT 100 - considering adding a DAC

For a while I ran my T100 with an Apogee DA-1000E-20. To my ears it was a considerable improvement in terms of immediacy, liveliness, speed and detail.

(Of course that begged the question of the transport's contribution to the sound. I discovered this was a big one when later I substituted a dedicated transport for the T100. And then there's the digital interconnect to consider... !)

The DA-1000E is pro recording gear and fairly rare on AudiogoN. You may not find much about it on audiophile sites, but there is a little. As it happens, there is a DA-1000E up for sale here right now.

If you want to try a DAC, the Apogee DA-1000E will work with either your Denon or your T100. IMHO it is extremely good sonic value, as good as or better than anything else at its ~$600 price. Note that it has a BNC connector for S/PDIF input, and its analog outputs are XLRs. (The output pin configuration can be set using DIP switches inside the case.) It also needs an external power supply (input via a DB-15 computer-style connector) but it's not too picky about voltage, 12-15 VDC will do fine.

If you do get an external DAC, make sure your digital interconnect cable is 1.5 meters long. This will reduce the jitter caused by internal reflections in the cable, and is especially critical if your transport (or DAC) uses RCA connectors, which cannot be made to a 75-ohm impedance value.