Tube Dac

[GregLett]

Hi Guys,

Looking for options for a dac with tubes.
Price point under 1K.

Thanks.

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[wkhanna]

Hi, Greg!

what are the reasons you're specifically looking at tube DAC's?

[GregLett]

I like the sound of Tubes in my system.
I was initially going with a tube preamp but since my system is going to be HT and 2 channel I'm trying to simplify things.

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[wkhanna]

just so you know, i use a tube hybrid pre in my system (Carver C-19, highly modified).

many mfgs' simply put a tube buffer stage (sometimes referred to as a tube hybrid) in an otherwise SS topography and call it a 'tube' DAC.
regardless, the end result is coloration input from the vacuum tube.
one of the fun things with this is the opportunity to try different tubes.

if i were going to spend <$1000 on a tube DAC, it would be the DOGE 7 Clarity.
no, i haven't heard one.
but for under $k, i would not hesitate to try it.
if i didn't like it i would just put it up on audiogon and move on.

the bad news is they are on backorder with no time line given on when they might be available again.

jmho, ymmv

[GregLett]

I saw the DOGE 7 Clarity bit it was listed at $1,699
I was thinking about the Jolida Glass FX.



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[wkhanna]

I saw the DOGE 7 Clarity bit it was listed at $1,699
I was thinking about the Jolida Glass FX.



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i may be mistaken, but i thought that price was in Singapore dollars?

never heard any of the Jolada brand in many years, but they have had some very good engineering in the past.
they were always a competitive value with their DACs, though i generally found them to a bit thin in the mid range.
but still not not bad in <1k arena.

[wkhanna]

i may be mistaken, but i thought that price was in Singapore dollars?

yep, i was wrong.
it's the Denafrips R2R DAC that is listed in Singapore $ on their website.

[GregLett]

Here's another find. Love the price.

https://www.mav-audio.com/base/product/tubemagic_d2

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[GregLett]

Here's another find. Love the price.

https://www.mav-audio.com/base/product/tubemagic_d2

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Ordered this one. Let's see.

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[Alaric]

Subbed. I'm curious to see what you think of it.

[wkhanna]

there has been some surprisingly good equipment coming from the asian market recently.
no, not all of it, not most of it, but a few pearls have come up and it seems to be happening more often.
and their displaying V good performance at bargain pricing.

i will be interested in your impression of this unit.

[GregLett]

there has been some surprisingly good equipment coming from the asian market recently.
no, not all of it, not most of it, but a few pearls have come up and it seems to be happening more often.
and their displaying V good performance at bargain pricing.

i will be interested in your impression of this unit.

Unit arrived. Build quality is good. It does not feel cheep. I will not be able to listen to it until next week. I will post first impressions.

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[wkhanna]

yes, looks V nice, indeed. :T

[JonMarsh]

Now, if I wanted to be mean, I would tell you about a DAC from a company in Prague, my 2nd favorite European city, which was recently tested on Stereophile with very high marks, especially for one that sells direct for a little bit under $1300, and left them practically raving about it, and John Atkinson having to breakout his loaner APx555, same model I use, in order to measure the very low residual distortion.

But they've suspended orders for a bit due to too much of a good thing (business). Otherwise I would have ordered one this week in order to check it out.


https://www.oktoresearch.com


To whet your appetite a little bit, one graph from JA's testing:




This shows the spectrum of the DAC output at 0dBFS at 1kHz, plus a digital "black" spectrum to show you the residual of the complete test loop including the DAC...

JA commented that this unit had the highest true resolution he's measured at 21 bit, matching three other models previously tested, at much higher price points.


$1300, boys....

[GregLett]

Well. Initial impression is OK. Slight improvement but nothing glaring. I just plugged it in so I will use it for a bit and see now it goes.
I do notice a slightly better sound stage and bass using the tube output vs the standard but you have to really listen for that.

I like the fact that it enabled me to use my XLR imputs on my processor witch is an improvement over using the optical imputs, so that's
a plus.