Quote:
Originally Posted by tdimler
Thought I should chip in here. I recently had a 523 on loan.
Super piece of gear....beautifully built...and heavy!
Very, very smooth sounding. Hard to fault.
I have an all digital setup and my Mytek Manhattan II DAC has an excellent analog pre-amp so adding something like the 523 means spending a lot of coin for very marginal improvement.
The 523 gets my highest recommendation, but it was also eye opening as to how good things can sound direct from a great DAC.
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Your post compelled me to do a “side-by-side” comparison today. What I observed: my No. 523 brings a ton of value and improvement compared to my Bel Canto 2.7 straight to the ML 536 amps. Perhaps the Manhattan II analog is that much better than the Bel Canto. As a DAC, my Bel Canto sounds superb. I wonder if a better DAC would make a noticeable difference?
