BigFriendly
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Hi folks, I've been trying to educate myself through the advice and reviews on this site but still find myself unable to piece together a solution with confidence given my specifics.
I recently jumped into the deep end and upgraded to a McIntosh MC462 amp and a pair of MartinLogan Renaissance 15a's. I have a McIntosh C8 tube pre-amp on order (supposedly arriving in 2 weeks) as well the optional the ESS Sabre 9028pro based McIntosh DA2 digital card which is evidently on indefinite backorder at this time. My streaming experience to date has been Spotify via a Marantz AV8805 unit which will connect to the C8's sole balanced input in pass through mode for home theater use. My brand choices to date have been driven by access to dealer cost pricing. However, as I ponder the DAC+Streamer consideration, it seems the value/quality equation is less clear given the myriad of other smaller brand choices.
Compared with the McIntosh C2700 tube pre-amp (which includes a DA2 DAC card) I went with the lower cost C8 pre-amp as I liked the appearance better and thought it a more prudent way to dip my toes into tube sound. The DA2 card is optional in the C8. I haven't been able to find much discussion of the DA2 on this forum. My cost for the DA2 is ~$600. At this price, are there better options with an external DAC? Unfortunately, I'd be stuck using RCA interconnects from the DAC to the C8 as the balanced input is already claimed for the Marantz (12m in wall balanced interconnect run). Also, the DA2 doesn't support MQA -- not sure if most people would consider that a deal breaker?
The Streamer question has me even more perplexed. Are there discernible audio differences between streamers (pre DAC circuity) or is it really a matter of service support and interface quality? I enjoy Spotify's interface but don't know what else I maybe missing (besides better sound quality). I'm looking for remote control via iPhone/iPad/Macbook. I have special pricing on NAD, BlueSound, and Arcam product lines.
TLDR: Options (1) given $400, what's a good streamer to pair with a McIntosh DA2 DAC card in a McIntosh C8 tube pre-amp? or (2) given $1000, what's a good streamer/DAC (separate or integrated) option to connect via RCA to a McIntosh C8 tube pre-amp? What's the better option sonically?
Thanks!
I recently jumped into the deep end and upgraded to a McIntosh MC462 amp and a pair of MartinLogan Renaissance 15a's. I have a McIntosh C8 tube pre-amp on order (supposedly arriving in 2 weeks) as well the optional the ESS Sabre 9028pro based McIntosh DA2 digital card which is evidently on indefinite backorder at this time. My streaming experience to date has been Spotify via a Marantz AV8805 unit which will connect to the C8's sole balanced input in pass through mode for home theater use. My brand choices to date have been driven by access to dealer cost pricing. However, as I ponder the DAC+Streamer consideration, it seems the value/quality equation is less clear given the myriad of other smaller brand choices.
Compared with the McIntosh C2700 tube pre-amp (which includes a DA2 DAC card) I went with the lower cost C8 pre-amp as I liked the appearance better and thought it a more prudent way to dip my toes into tube sound. The DA2 card is optional in the C8. I haven't been able to find much discussion of the DA2 on this forum. My cost for the DA2 is ~$600. At this price, are there better options with an external DAC? Unfortunately, I'd be stuck using RCA interconnects from the DAC to the C8 as the balanced input is already claimed for the Marantz (12m in wall balanced interconnect run). Also, the DA2 doesn't support MQA -- not sure if most people would consider that a deal breaker?
The Streamer question has me even more perplexed. Are there discernible audio differences between streamers (pre DAC circuity) or is it really a matter of service support and interface quality? I enjoy Spotify's interface but don't know what else I maybe missing (besides better sound quality). I'm looking for remote control via iPhone/iPad/Macbook. I have special pricing on NAD, BlueSound, and Arcam product lines.
TLDR: Options (1) given $400, what's a good streamer to pair with a McIntosh DA2 DAC card in a McIntosh C8 tube pre-amp? or (2) given $1000, what's a good streamer/DAC (separate or integrated) option to connect via RCA to a McIntosh C8 tube pre-amp? What's the better option sonically?
Thanks!
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