@curiousjim
I never thought of ARC as a place to look for DACs. My dealer had brought over a pair of Ref 160 mononblocks for me to use for a while (turned out to be a year and a half). Anyway, he also brought over a Ref CD9SE... basically a DAC 9. I was not interested, so I put it in my storage room. He was coming over in a couple days, so I felt obligate to listen to it... so I reluctantly pulled it out, unpacked it an hooked it up. Within thirty seconds I had sent him a text telling him to order one for me... I''d figure out where to get the $17K later. I was blown away... the natural sound the synergy with the rest of my system. So, I have had it ever since... They discontinued it because they could no longer get transports... but it is the DAC 9 with a CD Player.
Since then I have had him lend me a Berkely Alpha Reference 4... $22K. I had just got used to the idea that I was going to have to cough up another $5K. So after a couple weeks. I concluded the difference was absolutely minuscule with the Berkeley having a tinny weeny more detail, and the Audio Research having a tinny weeny better natural sound, especially in the midrange. I actually preferred the ARC... What a win! like the first time ever the cheaper component has sounded better. I have since had a dCS Lina with extra clock, and a couple others in my system. Each time the Audio Research wins.
I am absolutely happy as possible with it. One thing to note is that the DAC 9... there is no 10 yet. does not support DSD. My outstanding headphone system does. My conclusion is that there are not enough native DSD recordings and those that are there are not significantly better to warrant worrying about it.
For those that want musical, natural sounding... especially with other ARC equipment... they are a steal and worth every penny. Highly recommended,
