Music Direct just got UD-701’s back in stock. Price is up $300 to $4300. I ordered one yesterday and will report back. I just found a beautiful Audio Research VT-130SE so I have something to try the preamp section out with. I’ve found the 505 preamp section great in my system.
TEAC UD-701 vs NT-505 vs ?
I stream Quboz and Tidal via a Bluesound Vault 2. Vault transmits to Parasound JC2 to modded A21 to Vandersteen Quatro CTs. (See my profile for complete description of system.) Happy, really very happy, with Vault 2 but it is likely best point at which to upgrade my system.
Considering TEAC NT-505 ($2K) and new TEAC DAC/streamer UD-701 ($4K), which has some very attractive features: in-house-built discrete Delta-Sigma DAC with FPGA circuity, dual-mono signal path, four separate power supplies... Have seen enthusiastic reviews for NT-505 from owners here. Only one review by Moon Audio out about UD-701, and they are not an uninterested party. Curious if any out there have heard UD-701?
Open to other suggestions, including used with roughly $6K price ceiling. See TMR has used Aurender A-10s for sale. Used PS Audio Direct Wave DAC with bridge is another consideration, although I have seen owners comment negatively about the bridge.
Not wed to DAC/streamer combo but that has appeal to me because it eliminates a box, connecter, and power cord, all of which add to cost and connector makes signal path less direct.
Also not wed to SS but a tube DAC appears to me to introduce an additional source of distortion into my otherwise SS system, so it will then be affected by both SS and tube distortion.
Thoughts?
Bosssound
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@bhvf , eager to hear about your experience. |
I've been playing it and using it as a balanced preamp with a new to me Audio Research VT-130SE and it sounds fantastic, a little more open than the 505. I will switch back to my Sugden next week and do some comparisons as I'm much more familiar with that amp. Build quality is fantastic. This thing is heavy also. I love that it has inputs so I can use vinyl. I don't know if it converts everything to digital and back. That would obviously be a problem for vinyl lovers. I haven't tried it yet. That's next week also when I have some more time. |
@bosssound Your thoughts on the Bartok mirror mine. I have listened to it both with high end speaker and headphone setups, and both times I felt the Bartok sounded dull and a little muddled. With the speaker setup, it was hooked to a D'agostino preamp running into Luxman M900u into Wilson Sabrina. Headphone amp was a Woo Audio 33 and I forget the model of the headphones, but it was a high end one. |
- 119 posts total