$2000 Dac

@yyzsantabarbara 

that immersiv D1 dac must sound incredible on your Yamaha ns5000 system 

@mr_bill It does sound terrific. The D-1 has to be direct to amp since all other preamps will limit the sound. I sold my uber resolving Benchmark HPA4 preamp because it was limiting the sound. I actually sold $14k of gear (7 items) that became redundant with the D-1. I love how empty my rack looks now.

Last week, I went to a headphone meet in Denver and imersiv was there with 2 D-1 DACs (including an all-black). The designer John La Grou was spinning the tunes on his D-1’s. I got a chance to speak with him, and he gave me the idea of using a balanced Y cable to hook up the D-1 to both my Livingroom Yamaha NS5000 and the office Magnepan Mini speakers. I have a CODA #11 amp on the NS5000 and the CODA #16 amp on the Mini. Both have input impedance of 10k Ohms. Since the D-1 is a pro DAC it has very high output impedance. Anyways, I received a Benchmark balanced Y cable today and I am listening to it on the office setup. It took a bit for the cable to settle but wow it sounds really good now. 

What that means is that the Schiit Byggy DAC that was supposed to be delivered today, an upgrade from the Yggi+ MIB unit to the Byggy will be up for sale on Monday when I receive it.

Another development is that a friend of mine is close to getting an amazing audio switchbox built. I will get that and replace the Y cable once that is available, though I think it will be expensive. The way it is designed it does not limit the D-1. I had the prototype on my Yamaha setup.

+1 @soix

Thought this one looked interesting, or a used Denafrips Pontus 15th may pop up under $2k soon.  Best of luck.

https://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2025/11/09/the-garlubidor-divinty-r2r-dac-is-a-better-denafrips/

@soix is referring to the Garlubidor DIVINTY R2R Dac. This is the one I’m saving up for to buy, and per the Steve Huff review and others it outperforms the Denafrips Pontus 15th with software/hardware upgrades and has more extensive connectivity.

I just bought a Holo Cyan 2 used from a friend and am quite impressed with it.  My prior reference was a SMSL SU-9n chip dac, so that was a 4-5x step up in terms of original price.  Whenever they appear for sale on USAM, TMR, etc, they go fast.  The rest of my system is a VTL preamp, an HK Sig 1.5 (Madrigal factory) and Magnepan 3.6R.  Audiophile classic recordings like Jazz at the Pawnshop are incredibly holo-graphic.  

The R26 II appears to make some meaningful improvements over the Mk I, which was rather disappointing—mediocre at best. I’ve heard the Mk II sounds more detailed and dynamic. At this price point, there are several competing options in a similar range. More homework is needed.  Good luck.