audiophile music servers the latest products, info

I have listened to many music servers and found great variations. The only two that much interested me are the Exemplar and the Blue Smoke. I bought the Exemplar and still love it.

I completely agree about the Paradigm change in the "music replay ritual" associated with music server - you will never go back. But, what surprised and delighted me was the world-class digital playback which a Lavry DA-10 DAC brought to my system. Few, if any CD players can even come close.

I sold my Naim CDX + XPS ($9K) after hearing my squeezebox digital output into a Lavry DA-10 DAC ($975). On the Naim forum, there are several who claim that an apple MacBook or Mac mini Toslink into the DA-10 outperforms their Naim CDS3 players ($17K). This I believe, as the sound I am hearing is better than any CD player I have ever heard, by a wide margin.

A friend brought by his Rega Apollo over for comparison, and was shocked at the difference ("wipes floor with..."). Once the word gets around, you will not be able to sell you CD player for a doorstop. Give it a try, you will be amazed!

crp

Squeezebox or even better Transporter with a good outboard DAC will do the trick for under $2K

The Wadia 170i + Ipod is a great sounding server for $600! In fact, this combination sounds as good as my MBL 1621 transport, which retail price is 20 times that of the Wadia/Ipod combo!

Chris

Dazzdax, is this commentary about the Wadia or the MBL?