Asia is kicking Ass and Taking Names

In the past, I had stayed with mostly U.S. made products and was happy with them.  Being on Social Security now with fixed and limited income, I must make other choices as eventually these great pieces will give up the ghost.  My first real entry into what some audiophiles now call "Chi-Fi", was a Denafrips Terminator-Plus DAC.  Built like a tank and audio-wise, sonics are terrific, and while not cheap, it didn't break the bank.  The next piece was a Jays-Audio CDT-2 MK-III transport, also built like a tank and easily replaced my old CD transport at a reasonable price.  Trying to help my daughter (a budding audiophile) with her system, and hearing good things about WiiM, I bought her a WiiM Ultra Streamer/DAC.  Before I sent it to her, I opened it up and tried it on my system, not expecting it to sound anywhere like my Innuos/Denafrips streamer/DAC digital front end, but I was surprised!  The sound was really good and while I of course prefer my Innuos/Denafrips combo (~ $9000) the $329 WiiM Ultra definitely held its own and I kept it and ordered another one and had it sent to my daughter.  LAiV, Eversolo, Denafrips, and others have entered the audio market with some great sounding, well built devices.  Definitely something anyone entering the Hi-Fi audio realm should consider and for those on fixed incomes, great sonic replacements for aging equipment, IMHO.  

And Yes...  Asia was a terrific band !  

I’ll join in here. I have an Accuphase E-5000 Integrated and was thinking of buying the Accuphase DAC 60 and a good Streamer for music. But first, I paired it with my Eversolo DMP A-8 just for the heck of it and wow! The Eversolo punches way WAY above its price point. The synergy between the AKM DACs in the Eversolo and the Accuphase are just awesome....not to mention the Eversolo app and streaming ecosystem is just loaded with options...including multiple filters that are fun to play with. I can’t recommend Eversolo enough! 

Now if someone can recommend a great SACD player that doesn’t cost a mint, I would appreciate it. I've been looking for a good deal on a preowned Esoteric, Accuphase or Luxman but even these often command deep pockets. I am currently using an Oppo UDP-203 via RCA out to the Accuphase. It sounds fantastic but at some point would love a dedicated piece to use that has balanced outs. In summary, I have to admit that there really is more and more great pieces coming out of China and Korea etc that offers fantastic bang for the buck. 

Asian Playback design is for shure Cen Grand

I've had a Line Magnetic 518IA integrated amp for several years , top notch build and sound , especially with better tubes

@tweak1 Audio Alchemy brings back MANY memories for me. They were my first external DAC 30+ years ago. I believe I had some type of DDC with them also. The Chinese DAC's are definitely a good value. I own the Holo Audio May KTE DAC but I've had it for 4 years now and getting the itch to upgrade.