I also have this combo. Agree with Ksie - a more 3D and musically pleasing presentation. I replaced a Sony 999ES with the SqueezeBox 3 and it's been the best thing for my music listening. I have my system connected to solid state, Odyssey Tempest + Stratos and the sound is never fatiguing. I have all my music in FLAC (the only draw back with SB3 is I've purchased more CDs than ever before, bought extra HD space to hold them, and spend 5x as much time listneing to music...). My system is on a dedicated circuit, and the SB3 is on another circuit connected to the DAC2 via glass toslink.
I wouldn't trade the Bel Canto for anything else in my system that's anywhere near my pricerange (less than $1500), as I think the Bel Canto DAC2 is one of my favorite pieces of hifi gear next to the SqueezeBox3. I just really like the sound of digital through the DAC2. From what I read, the Benchmark would maybe more detailed, perhaps more analytical (it is a studio piece after all). It's all a mater of flavor I think; depending on other factors in your system (room, speakers, preamp, amp), you may prefer the Benchmark. I do think that in my system, the SB3+DAC2 with the RS750s/Velodyne SPL1000 sub, sounds great and I have a bit of the magic that keeps me glued to the couch listening to a couple hours of music each day. -- subhuman ------------------------------------------------------------------------ subhuman's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3522 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=24206 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
