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Reference DACS: An overall perspective

There has been many threads the last few months regarding the sonic signature of some of the highest regarded reference DACS (Dcs,Meitner,Ensemble,Audio Note,Zanden,Reimyo,Accustic Arts) here on the GON. I have been very fortunate to audtion many of these wonderful pieces in my home or friend's systems. I wanted to share, in a systematic way, my impressions/opinions with you GON members for a two reasons: 1)That my experiences might be helpful to fellow members interested in audtioning these DACS. 2)Starting an interesting discussion regarding the different "sonic flavors" of these reference digital front ends. I totally agree with the statement, "if you have not heard it you don't have an opinion". Therefore, I have no comments regarding DACS from Weiss,Goldmund,Audio Aero and Burmester because I have never had the pleasure of audtioning them. I would love to hear from members who have and share their experiences with us. My overall impression is that these DACS(Dcs,Meitner,Ensemble,Audio Note,Zanden,Reimyo,Accustic Arts) can be grouped into two molar categories regarding their overall sonic signature. By the way, all of them can throw a large/deep soundstage with excellent layering in the acoustic space with "air" around individual players on that stage. However, than they start to part company into two major categories. Category #1) These DACS "flavors" revolve around pristine clarity, fine sharp details,speed,very extended top/bottom frequencies,and great PRAT. These DACS never sound "etched" or "in your face" but are more "upfront" then "layed back" in their presentation. The DACS, to my ear's, that go into this bracket are Dcs,Ensemble,Meitner. My personnal favorite in this group is the Ensemble, which I owned for two years. These DACS remind me of the sonic signature of speakers such as Wilson,Thiel,Dynaudio, Focal/JM Labs. Category #2) These DACS "flavors" revolve around a "musical/organic" sense, natural timbres,and an easy flowing liquidity. Their "less forward" presentation my give the impression of less detail, but I think in this case its an illusion fostered by their more relaxed/organic manner. The DACS, to my ear's, that go into this bracket are Audio Note,Zanden,Reimyo,Accustic Arts. I did find that the tube DACS did not have the top/bottom frequency extenstion and PRAT of the SS DACS in this bracket. For me, the Accustic Arts DAC1-MK3 gave me the best of both categories, therefore it is now the resident DAC in my system. These DACS remind me of the sonic signature of speakers such as Magnepan,Von Schweikert,Sonus Faber. Well, it's all just my opinion regarding these digital pieces, but I hope this post was at least informative/somewhat interesting and would lend itself to other GON members sharing their impressions, not about what DAC is the "BEST" in the world, but your personnal taste and synergy with your system.
teajay
exlibris
438 posts
 
Teajay,
Did you ever compare the Accustic Arts Drive 1 to your Ensemble transport? Forgive me if you already answered this question in another post.
teajay OP
1,655 posts
 
Exlibris, I did not compare in my system the Accustic Arts Drive 1 with my Ensemble Dirondo transport. However, the individual I purchased my Accustic Arts DAC-1 MK3 from had both transports to audition the AA DAC-1 MK3 with and found no sonic advantage/differences between the two transports. Since, I already had the Ensemble transport as my reference in my system, I saw no reason, based on the trust in my friend's opinion, to audition it. It's a real compliment to these dealer, since he could have tried to "sell" me on better synergy or sonic improvement using the Accustic Arts transport instead of the Ensemble transport, but was honest in sharing that there was no reason to make the change. I know that both transports are extremely well built and sound great, however the Ensemble costs almost $3000.00 more then the Accustic Arts. Historically, I have had in my system some highly regarded transports, such as the CEC TL-1, ML-31.5, and found the Ensemble to offer me better sonics then those transports. As I advised one GON member, if you can get a Ensemble transport discounted to around $4500.00 or less I would go for it, if not, I would be very happy to have the Accustic Arts transport which sonicly competes with the best, but costs less and is extremely well built.
exlibris
438 posts
 
Branimir,
Do you know if CEC plans to release any transports in between the $1,200 TL-51 and the $14,000 TL-0X? That's quite a gap.
branimir
236 posts
 
Exlibris-CEC on European market also has TL2-SL version(with CEC link to connect to DX-71MkII dac). I heard that new version of TL2 might be introduced early next year...
BTW, price for TL-0x in USA is $17500! TL51x is $1290 and IMO it is the best offer in sub $3K area. It is a very good choice as starting transport for Reimyo DAP-777( together they cost around $6500 ). What DAC are you using( or plan to use?)?
exlibris
438 posts
 
Right now I have the EMM Labs DCC2. It's great but I need to 'simplify' for personal reasons. I tried the TL51 this week. It did some amazing things and some not so good. I want to blame the 'not so good' on the coax digital cable that I borrowed. I tried to use a higher-quality AES/EBU connector but the DCC2 wouldn't lock on to the clock signal for some reason. The same cable worked fine from my Philips SACD 1000.
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