I don't think I will ever buy a dac again.Or an amp. 2 months ago I replaced my Primare a30.1 integrated amp and Rega DAC (together with the van den Hul the first ultimate cables close to €3500,- , the amp was 10 years old though) with the Dac/amp NAD C390DD (€2500.- over here) and the favorable change really restored my faith that revolutionary price/quality improvements in audio are possible after all. The original set was a well-balanced carefully put together set at its price point to my ears (i tried a few amps and a handful of dacs) but the NAD seems to improve every aspect; treble is much more extended and purer, no more fine grain on the top and the slightly rolled off treble the Rega added, tight deep bass, my dynaudio audience 122 speakers seems to have grown, a wider and deeper soundstage with a very natural big big background and lots a detail, it sounds clearer, without sounding shrill or analytical or mechanical in the slightest. Some reviews describe it as warm and organical and I can hear what they mean, but neutral is seen most often. If I have to name a weak point I would say dynamics, seems slightly less then the Primare. But on the whole the improvement was deeply impressive (after 3 days of warming up, out of the box it sounded horribly spikey) and looking at pictures of its inside, I'm sure dac/amps like thise can and will become chesper, much cheaper in the feature (NAD already has cheaper products with this kind of amplication coming out, like something called 3020(!)). These digital amps, not to be confused with class D, will probably replace class AB amps I think, en passant killing the need for a seperate amps. I suppose a nieche markt for class A amps especially with tubes will survive, after all it did so the last 5 decennia.
But I wouldn't be surprised if all mainstream amps 10 years from now will be digital. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dura's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=39937 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=99491 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
