T-mlb,
I have not compared those two, but I thought I would offer my observation concerning the Theta.
I have previously owned the balance version of the Theta Miles. According to Theta and most Audio Forums, the balanced version has superior sound quality to the RCA only version, even if you only use the RCA outputs. This is because the balanced version has twice the number of DAC chips of the non-balanced version.
I have only owned the balanced version and I thought it was very good. I ran it direct to my amp and thought it sounded great. It replaced a Arcam Alpha 9 (and a pre-amp) and I thought it was a good upgrade. Also, I did enjoy the build quality of the Theta and I think the Pioneer Stable Platter transport mech that is used in the Theta is top notch.
That said, I actually sold the Theta and bought a demo Cary CD-308. I like the fact that the Cary has user selectable upsampling to 24bit/96khz and was basically new with warranty. I think the sound of both is very good, with a slight edge to the Cary overall. I also use the Cary connected directly to my amp.
You can get a Cary CD-308 that is less than one year old for $900 or less. I think the last Theta Miles was built in 1999 or 2000, so they are all at least 3 years old. So, for the same price you may want to also consider the Cary. It may or may not be better than the Theta and it may or may not last longer considering it is newer. But it does have variable volume control, so at its used price, the Cary is a direct competitor with the Theta.
As I said, I had them both and kept the Cary. But I could just as easily understand someone choosing the Theta.
Enjoy,
TIC
I have not compared those two, but I thought I would offer my observation concerning the Theta.
I have previously owned the balance version of the Theta Miles. According to Theta and most Audio Forums, the balanced version has superior sound quality to the RCA only version, even if you only use the RCA outputs. This is because the balanced version has twice the number of DAC chips of the non-balanced version.
I have only owned the balanced version and I thought it was very good. I ran it direct to my amp and thought it sounded great. It replaced a Arcam Alpha 9 (and a pre-amp) and I thought it was a good upgrade. Also, I did enjoy the build quality of the Theta and I think the Pioneer Stable Platter transport mech that is used in the Theta is top notch.
That said, I actually sold the Theta and bought a demo Cary CD-308. I like the fact that the Cary has user selectable upsampling to 24bit/96khz and was basically new with warranty. I think the sound of both is very good, with a slight edge to the Cary overall. I also use the Cary connected directly to my amp.
You can get a Cary CD-308 that is less than one year old for $900 or less. I think the last Theta Miles was built in 1999 or 2000, so they are all at least 3 years old. So, for the same price you may want to also consider the Cary. It may or may not be better than the Theta and it may or may not last longer considering it is newer. But it does have variable volume control, so at its used price, the Cary is a direct competitor with the Theta.
As I said, I had them both and kept the Cary. But I could just as easily understand someone choosing the Theta.
Enjoy,
TIC