which tube dac? Lab 12 vs Line Magnetic vs Borderpatrol?

@oddiofyl There is a balanced version priced at $4000, TMR has it as a special order.

The OP asked about Line Magnetic... I have an older LM 502ca that I've swapped its LM branded Electo Harmonix tubes out of for La Radiotechnique, Brimar and RCA clear top 12au7s; all are amazing tubes and ups the DACs performance exponentially. I use an Acrolink AES/EBU to my Lumin and an Audience AU24 Coax to an Enlightened Audio transport and it, on many days, outperforms my other tube DAC costing twice as much. If you can get your hands on one, grab it.  

As someone already said the Borderpatrol isn't exactly a tube DAC, though it does have a tube in the power supply for rectification. More importantly the sound is very "tube like" in character. I didn't love it in my system but I know a bunch of people who do, it is worth a try if that's the signature you prefer.  

i'm sure all those you're considering will sound excellent....

there's always something out there just as good or better,...

u might want to seriously consider this though...

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/650154527-balanced-audio-technology-bat-rex3-dac/

great price on a current model, great build quality and reliability,... a true statement level piece....  playback designs digital greatness, plus..... musical bat tube magic..... doesn't get much better than this at any price..last you a lifetime

of course, opinions vary

Hello,

Don't know your budget, but you won't go wrong with any of  Audio Mirror DACs. 

There is a sale going on now. If you need more information, please contact me.

Vlad