Sony HAP-Z1ES or NAD M51?

I checked out the Sony recently and came away impressed with features. All my tunes are currently burned to WAV and reside on a Mac Mini and drive, so transferring to the Sony would be pretty easy, if a bit time consuming at first.

I like the idea it can upgrade Redbook files. The app seemed cool, but it was a bit goofy using an IPad mini, which I blamed on the dealer's WiFi network.

I also use a Squeezebox, but with mods from Bolder Cable, who I think is no longer doing these upgrades. The mods were replacing the digital SPDIF outputs, and building a ridiculous power supply with Jensen caps and Blackgate parts. It was a $1200 upgrade and so far, it's been hard to beat (driving a Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 21 tube DAC, also built like a brick outhouse). But not cost effective, and I couldn't recommend spending that kind of money today to upgrade an older unit.

I may have to borrow a Sony to see if I like it. Using a headphone system now, Woo Audio 6SE driving Audeze LCD-3 headphones.

Davehg, I found that transferring wav files to the HAPZ1 was problematic to say the least. On the other hand, AIFF, flac, ALAC etc. transferred flawlessly. I found in a few cases the wave files sounded best, but this was 2 albums of many. Most of the time, I could hear no difference between wav and AIFF.

The ability to convert redbook on the fly to dsd is huge. In a few cases, especially with older recordings, the HAPZ1 renders music that was unlistenable through my very good ModWright Sony 5400 player as very satisfying recordings.

There are a number of people who rightly have been put off by the Vtuner not working since Sept 6. If that is not an issue for you, this really is an attractive option at the price. If you can borrow one, by all means, that is the way to go.

Thanks Brownsfan. Now I just have to locate a local dealer.

Last night I received a Sophia Princess rectifier tube for the Woo Audio 6se headphone amp. It was a revelation, easily the most impressive upgrade I've done with this amp (including cables and power cords). I have to say that running with the Squeezebox/Tri-Vista setup, things were sounding just great. I also was able to control it with a nifty app on my phone.

So I'd have to demo one against my current setup to justify that it really surpasses what I have now.

A month in ... and must say the HAP-Z1ES is sounding better every day. Very smooth sound with great detail/highs and massive soundstage. Loving it. Awesome job by Sony...