Anyone know how good MHDT Labs Paradisea DAC is?


There has been some talk on the net that it is a bit of a bargain. True or false?
raymondr
Tvad I am not sure at the moment. My preamp is a BAT VK5i. The Paradisea sounded just as you described. I was very sad to be honest because I was really looking forward to enjoying this dac especially with all the buzz about it.

I borrowed a friends Muse Model 9 Signature Gen III while I had the Paradisea and never gave it back to him...lol. He preferred his Muse separate transport and dac over this player so it worked out for both of us :)
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Different tubes in the Paradisea can have a major effect on the bass levels.

I've found the Tung Sol NOS 5730 equivalent tube delivers a significantly fuller and more robust low end than the stock GE 5730 that the Paradisea comes with. The GE 5730 has more sparkle and resolution to the high end however.

There are other tubes that might be tried as well. Do a google search on Paradisea tubes for info on how various people hear various tubes in the Paradisea.

My Paradisea runs into an ARC sp16 preamp. Not sure of the impedance #s here but I do not find bass levels or definition to be an issue with this particular combo.
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I upgraded the power cable ($60 used), digital cable ($70 used), and tube (Western Electric 396A $25).
To my ear, the tube upgrade brought more positive sound than the two cables combined. Now, it is not hard to notice that mhdt with my Marantz DR700 CD player sounds better than the CD player alone.