DAC to pair with Eversolo DMP-A6

I bought an ES DMP A-6 last February, played around with various settings on it, then added a Centaurus R2R DAC.

My two cents? It made a YUGE difference. I bought a Denafrips Pontus 15th and the seller never sent the unit, meanwhile there were “supply chain issues” and I bought the Centaurus on a try/return option.

Chain is: DMP - Centaurus - Tektron TK2 2A3 (pre-WW2 single plate RCA tubes) into a pair of Schmidt Audio Ubiquitous V2.x (I upgraded speakers and tweeters a bit for higher gain, about 97 dB/watt now - measured). Sounds awesome, spacious, deep, well-resolved. I run old R2R tape through a REVOX PR99 MkIII into an APT-Holman preamp with Schmidt’s SUBiquitous and it feels like front row orchestra with the right tapes.  LPs are just as good.  Again, all through the Centaurus.

Still wonder what I’d gain with the Denafrips at $1k more, but for now it’s good enough. 

As “they” say (they know who they are) YMMV.

Based on your icon, I am a serious Dead fan myself, I would lean towards the R2R DAC’s. I have had a Gungnir Multibit and a Merason Reuss, both good. The Pontus  is likely a good choice, though I have not heard it.

And yes, I think it is likely a separate DAC will improve your system. Be sure to include budget for a good cable, I have had good results with WW Platinum for USB.

@mihorn More component (DAC + IC cable) will add more distortion and sounds worsen.  Please explain how you came to this conclusion.  I am interested in knowing.

@rivington66 you statement is a generalization.  It comes down to design.  Are you talking about discrete R2R?  If you are implementing a Sigma chip with lets say a DHT 101D tube then what you heard or are describing would be way different.

Happy Listening.

Based on reviews the A6 DAC is "not bad", however it is worth trying an external DAC, use the USB - not the IIS.  USB will outperform coax or Toslink - except perhaps for the most expensive Aurender streamers, with a perfect Coax cable..

The IIS connection would use the clock from the A6 and since you are upgrading the new DAC's clock should be better.  USB uses the new DAC's clock, IIS uses the source's clock.  USB cables are less critical as the data is buffered and clocked by the DAC.  IIS cables are absolutely critical as the clock is sent from the source so any jitter generated by the source and the cable are passed into the DAC's processing.

For example the Benchmark DAC3 B is sub $2K - I suspect very transparent and well engineered.

However, another thought is to try the Eversolo DMP-A8, this has a much better DAC than the A6 (according to reviews) - and you can sell the A6 for a few $100s. i have an A8 in my 2nd system and it is rather good - I tested it in my big rig in place of my Esoteric K-01XDSE and was impressed.

@bigkidz Generalization for sure. Just looking to give him a starting point and a real world experience.