DAC for entry level system

I have the Cambridge Audio dacmagic and haven't heard anything that trumps it except the naim DAC, but I did a serious upgrade to the power supply.

Dacmagic 2 also doubles as a headphone amp and up samples to 24/384

Another good one is the schiit bifrost - well built, upgradable and built in America.

And finally there is the zdac, which has received good reviews, but I've never heard one (sadly)

Hope this helps

I am sorry that sterophile review was comparing Musical Fidelity M1 DAC to the Rega Dac not the $379 Musical fidelity V-DAC MKII.

The MF M1 DAC sells for $799.00. Much closer to the price of the Rega but still cheaper for people who want to buy new.

I just got my Rega and I still need time to really get a good grip of the dac as a whole.

First impressions so far this DAC leads me to believe that many of the reviews on the web are dead on. It has added some new details that my Marantz 5004 CDP missed ($350). Though clearly the added details are small.What it does do is add alot of body and fullness to music. Room filling body. It also throws a nice sound stage which is a big improvement over the Marantz on all recordings. Much less digital sound and the the way it presents music is nice and very cohesive. You can clearly hear voices and instruments yet they flow together instead of hearing things separate but don't seem to come together and make a song come together(Marantz).

I do think the bass is a little much. It does add bass that is not as tight. The bass was terrible with a cheap digital cord from Best Buy. A blue jeans cable has helped the bass and I guess a better cord would do more to help improve the bass. Note that I am in a small room which always held back my bass.

The problem for me has been to find a quality DAC that has 2 coaxial SPDIF inputs. I don't like using Toslink optical. As 'quality' is budget dependent, and given that you have a nice system , what are you willing to spend on a DAC? Are you willing to buy used?

Thank you all for you responds.
Mesch, I want to spend around $500(need to buy digital cable and power cord). Yes, I'm willing to buy used unit.

The Rega does have 2 coaxial inputs but would put you over bugets $50-130.

Another Dac that people suggested for me when I was the looking at the same price point used was the Parasound Z Dac. It has good reivews and you can buy new for $500.00 and try it out in house for 30 days through audio advisors.

I ended up going over my $500 budget by $70 getting the rega + shipping. A lot of the used DAC that were priced between $800-$1200 are still above your price used. So you end up having to strech a little or look into buying new $500 DACS.

aLot of good reviews for MDBT Havana (tube) but they don't seem to come up for sale as often.