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From: rdw89@ecs.southampton.ac.uk (Richard Williams)
Newsgroups: rec.audio.high-end
Subject: Off board DACs
Message-ID: <8120@uwm.edu>
Date: 6 Dec 90 14:51:17 GMT
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Originator: tjk@csd4.csd.uwm.edu

Recently I've been listening to some off board DACs, with a view to
upgrading my Marantz CD94 player.  While not wanting to compromise
too much, I decided that the top Krell and Wadia offerings were just
too much to pay for something that will be old hat in a year's time.

Anyway, having listened a bit, I came to a few conclusions:
{Partnering system : Marantz CD94, ModSquad Passive, Musical Fidelity
P270.2, KEF 105/3 speakers}

Meridian 203 : A worthwhile improvement on the basic Marantz, in areas
like soundstaging and low level detail.  Bass resolution and attack
were about the same though.  The differences were clearly audible -
not your 'sit with it for a week' type excuse for not noticing.

Meridian 606 : Twice the price of the 203.  Showed that the 203 tended
to be a bit 'soft' in places.  Superb bass resolution and general
imaging.  The size of a concert hall was better portrayed.

Wadia X32 : This did not impress me at all.  I preferred both Meridians
to it.  The soundstage seemed to have collapsed into the middle of
the speakers.  Attack and tonal reproduction were good though.

Theta DSPro basic : This really got to me!  The improvement in resolution
across the whole frequency range was amazing.  Imagery was first class,
and didn't give up under complex conditions.  In particular the way
that decay stages gave a precise feeling of being in the concert hall
far surpassed the other players.

In the UK, Meridian offerings are much more competitively priced than
the Wadia or Theta units.  In particular the 203 seems a good buy.
It seems that what a product sells for in the US in $ is what it costs
here in pounds.
How much does the Theta DSPro and DSPro basic cost in America?
What does the DSPro (with all the expensive PTFE pcbs etc) sound like?
- I didn't dare try it!

Richard.