I think the Denafrips Pontus 15th is a real contender here. I love mine, and it made a very noticeable difference in my streaming SQ. It’s an improvement over the DA2 in my McIntosh C2800, so pretty sure it’ll better that Burr Brown. And I’d say a streamer upgrade could be on the table, but definitely DAC first.
Standalone DAC upgrade from onboard integrated
It’s about time I posted, I’ve been following long enough. I want to bypass the onboard DAC (Burr Brown) in my new Musical Fidelity M6si integrated with a standalone DAC to drive my Magnepan 1.7x’s. Budget is $1-2k. First issue: can I realize an appreciable improvement over the onboard DAC in the M6 with a unit in that price range? Second issue: I love the detail, clarity and imaging I get from the Maggies, but I don’t want them to get too clinical with a new DAC. Hence, I’ve been looking mostly at R2R typology to keep the “musicality”, perhaps at the expense of some precision. My listening tastes are mostly jazz, classical, with some vocals thrown in. Sources are about 50% streaming, 30% vinyl and 20% CD. Other components include Blusound Node, Marantz TT-15/Clearaudio Virtuoso and a 5 year old Marantz CD player. All insights or suggestions welcome.
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- 38 posts total
- 38 posts total