DAC upgrade

op

i concur with the suggestion to try an m scaler in front of your dave, it is an obvious thing to do ... the scaler typical adds a sense of richness and relaxedness to the sound of the chord dac it is connected to

the denafrips dacs (venus and up) do add a sense of midbass weight to the sound while still maintaining a nice sweet upper range

i tried the bricasti m1 se and to me it sound pretty much identical to the Weiss 501 (pre 4ch upgrade) they are in the clear and crisp school of sound... I have not heard the m21 maybe it is better/different

i do think the msb dacs are excellent (but $$), same imaging and clarity as the best like the dave and others but a touch more relaxed and dimensional, i’ll never part with my analog dac/pb

i had the am tubador and did not care for it, it sounded slightly veiled and low energy to me

good luck on your pursuit

Plus 1 for @audioman58 and @jjss49 suggestions to try the Chord M-Scaler in front of your DAVE.  If you go this route, I would suggest connecting the M-Scaler and the DAVE with something like a pair of The Chord Company Sarum T Digital BNC cables.

At your budget level you are in shooting range of the latest Linn Klimax DSM on the used market (retail near $40k). I have the immediately prior version with a Utopik power supply upgrade and its musicality is superbly enhanced by its presence and air. Instrument and voice separation is scary good. I run mine direct into an Audio Research Ref75SE. 

You probably want to DSP correct separately rather than rely on Linn’s system I think. 

Find a Linn dealer and audition the Klimax, it is simply amazing. You may not choose to go this route but if the dealer has a good setup, you will know what you are shooting for after hearing it. The reviews are not wrong based on my personal experience. 

Hello,

I am Vlad from Audio Mirror. Your system is very resolving and I think you'll benefit a lot from a good DAC. I have a new flagship DAC - WAVE DAC, which will bring best from both worlds tubes and solid state. Very detailed and not fatiguing and also very analog sounding with huge soundstage, airy easy flowing sound and most important - very involving. I have customers who already compared it to MPD, Linn, Lampizator Horizon and they all say they love WAVE over other DACs. Please contact me if you are interested.

+1 @bthrb4u

Don’t ruin a system like that adding room correction dsp.  Those devices degrade the signal quality greatly.

You have a clean, quiet system.  DSP generally adds noise.  We work so hard to create black backgrounds and resolution...DSP may tame some things, but to me, adds distortion.  I can easily hear this in Roon.  EZ to try, then turn it off...

Room treatments and subwoofer placement, when indicated, are the way to go.  Some are so easy...sub placement (for me wireless subs helped immensely), nice rug, treating reflection points, maybe even with bookcase etc.  I added very attractive sound absorbing panels right behind my listening couch to good effect, and base tube traps in boomy corners.  But sub placement was number 1.

Good luck!  You have gotten great advice on DACs.  While above your stated price range, the Master Fidelity C + D combo is amazing (it was above my stated budget also, but then I heard it!).  I also enjoy my Tambaqui onboard a Mola Mola Makua, with the Grimm MU1 streamer.  The MU2 is very nice, and eliminates a box and some cables.  But the MF combo is sublime.