Wanting to buy a new DAC to use between my sonos and ars filharmonia. What recommendations are out there? I understand there is a mod that can be done to the sonos unit to update the clock/power supply. Would this be done in place of the DAC? Thanks
You'd still want a good external dac whether you mod the zp80 or not. I have a Bel Canto Dac 1 that sounds great and are a great value now. If you can afford a better Bel Canto, go for it, it's hard to go wrong with them.
I've owned the bel canto dac 2 in the past and loved the sound. However, I had difficulties with signal drop out which was frustrating. I may consider another unit now though.
I agree with some of other posts. I personally think upgrading the power supply and possibly the output stage will give you more bang for your buck. I even want to go so far as to modify the male power input on the back to a more standard 15amp IEC so I can get a good aftermarket power cord. I use my ZP-80 with an external DAC and it sounds much better than the stock DAC in the Sonos. The Sonos can have too much sloppy bass as well as a harshness. The instruments are not very well articulated either. With my Esoteric D5 DAC, separation is much better.
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