[puresp]

I recently swapped my McIntosh MC452 for two Electrocompaniet AW600 NEMO monoblocks and a few weeks later swapped my C2500 preamp for an ARC REF3. Since every piece of equipment in my setup, except the C2500, was fully balanced I was not happy with the resulting balanced-to-single ended-to-balanced conversions that happened. I could avoid the latter step by using RCA connectors to the MC452 power amp but the NEMOs only have balanced inputs.

Anyway, as a result of the swap I had to find another DAC to convert my digital music (served by a NAD M50 w. a 3 Tb USB HDD attached) since the REF3 doesn't have a built in DAC as did the C2500.

As I have an MCD500 I of course used the coax input on that and ... lo and behold ... the quality just jumped up a couple of notches or more! The improvement was way above what I got when playing CD's so I'm pretty sure it's the change in DAC that made the difference.

I guess this could be useful info for somebody using the built in DAC in the C2500 (and perhaps also C2600?) if they also have another choice, like MCD500/550/1100. Go for the DAC in the SACD player - it is a class above the one built into the preamp I think!

Overall I am happy with the swaps - partly because I got great deals on the new amps and partly due to the improved performance.

PS: Now I just have to change my signature.