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Which R2R DAC UP TO 1K: ORGANIC, FULL-BODIED, DEEP SOUNDSTAGE

Hi all and hello George,

I`m new to Audiogon and as I have seen from earlier discussions some of you seem to be THE absolute R2R enthusiasts for many years. May I ask you for some help regarding this topic as I`m out for a new dac which should be R2R?

I`m coming from a Lector CDP 707, which is sold now as I got over to streaming, but I bloody regret it. The Lector had all I ever wanted, tonally he played on the warm, full-bodied side, organically with a lot of flesh to the bone and authority/slam and I loved the expansive soundstage, not overly wide but very deep. Bass was punchy enough even for EDM which I listen to mainly.

For the moment I`m using my former headamp as a DAC, the Questyle CMA 600i, with a DS chip on board, AKM 4490. I wouldn`t call it a catastrophe, but of course the signature is lightyears away from the Lector.

When looking for a new DAC I saw that Lector Strumenti offers some too, but I`m afraid my budget is too small with up to 1K, so this is not an option.

In respect of the Lector using the PCM 1704K I thought about (ab)using some vintage gear, for examle the Denon DVD 5000 with 4xPCM 1704J on board too (the Denon has a digital input and could be used as a stand alone DAC too), but I was told the analog stage is crappy and so I got away from this.

Still on my mind is the old Naim DAC and the Bifrost 2 or a used HoloSpring but for the moment I got no possibilitys to test them in my system (I`m using a tube packed preamp and as a headamp the Emotiva BasX 100 with the jumpers set as my "heddphone" requires some juice) and sure I`m open to any other ideas.

So, what would be your favourite devices when looking at my desired sound and knowing what (tiny amount) I got to spend?


It should be able to handle 24/96 btw, but my main concern would be an extremely deep and wide soundstage and a darker organic tonality.

Would be really glad for some help and input.

Best regards
Michael


barrista0611
barrista0611 OP
26 posts
 
Thanks George! I just found a Lector Digicode 2.24 which was offered to me for 1.150 EUR. Seems to be one of Lectors first dacs and should be around 10 years old. Price is still negotiable a bit I guess. 

http://www.lector-audio.com/dc224.htm

Actually I didn't want a tube dac in respect of my tube preamp, but in this case things are different. Does maybe anybody have experience with the 2.24?
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Looks good, I'm not for one with DAC's that use output tubes as they need to look at high impedance input loading from the following equipment.
Ask him if that "250ohm" output impedance is constant that it says it is from 20hz to 20khz. If it rises at 20hz you will need for it to see 100kohm input impedance amp or preamp, or install a much larger coupling caps on the tube L&R output stage. 

Cheers George
barrista0611 OP
26 posts
 
George, it doesn't seem constant and the input impedance of my preamp is 47 kOhm. 
Guess I will be looking for something else.
As you're a fan of the NAIM CDP 555 - do you also know the old naim dac? They came out around the same time. 
eugene81
270 posts
 
+1 for MHDT
jaytor's avatar
jaytor
778 posts
 
Denafrips, hmmm. Don’t they use the soekris architecture in general? I found their 1421 a bit to thin. Not harsh or cold but not as rich and full-bodied as I wanted.

I think Alvin from Vineshine replied a while back that the Denafrips DACs are unrelated to Soekris and use a proprietary R2R architecture. 

I am thrilled with my Denafrips Terminator, but this is above your price range. From what I understand, the models down the line have a very similar sonic signature, with a little less detail and refinement. My Terminator sounds fairly neutral with a presentation fairly similar to my Schitt Yggdrasil A2, but with a bit more energy in the bass. 

Very easy to listen to for long periods. Since I have my home office in my listening room, I've enjoyed listening to it for 8 hours or more a day almost every day for the past several months. 

Previous DACS included Krell Reference 64 (that was a while back), Mark Levinson No 39 (used as both a player and DAC), W4S DAC2, and Yggy.

The Yggdrasil is a great DAC with excellent detail and soundstage, but it can start to sound a bit congested on lesser quality recordings. I've found I'm enjoying more of my older classic rock recordings with the Terminator than I did with the Yggy. 
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