Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 in vintage system

[jdandy]

The Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 arrived today. I have been thinking of purchasing one for at least a year, and the opportunity presented itself here, and I snapped it up. My plan has always been to use it in my vintage sound system.

The vintage system has evolved over the last year from a McIntosh MA5100 and MR74 AM/FM tuner, and is now made up of a Tandberg 3008A preamp, Tandberg 3026A power amp, JVC XL-Z1050 K2 CD player, Sony 730ES AM/FM stereo tuner, and a pair of JBL 4312A Studio Monitor speakers. To this mix I added the Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 today. This is a photo of the system out of the cabinets and without the DAC2.





The JVC XL-Z1050 K2 CD player was JVC's flag ship player in 1991, manufactured in Japan, and is substantially built. The transport is all metal, no plastic, with a thin drawer that glides out and in slowly and silently. It uses a three laser system with a polished optical glass lens. As a CD player it has both fixed and variable outputs, so the player can be used as a preamp. On its own, it is a good sounding CD player, even by todays standards with JVC's proprietary DAC and K2 filtering. I purchased this player new, and it has been my source for the system in my Holiday Rambler travel trailer that I used while contracting projects all over the country. I couldn't be without some quality sound. The vintage sound system is still set up in the Holiday Rambler. The travel trailer now serves as my guest quarters and vintage sound system lounge.

With the addition of the Wyred 4 Sound DAC2, the JVC XL-Z1050 is now working as a transport only. I connected the CD player's digital output to the DAC2 with a Wireworld Silver Electra coaxial cable, and the analog outputs from the DAC2 are connected with Wireworld Equinox RCA interconnects. It only took a few minutes to install the DAC2 in the vintage system and check for proper setup, then it was time to spin some discs.

Holy mackerel! What a jump up in performance. With the Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 in the system it sounds like an entirely new sound system......seriously! Everything I have come to know and love about the ESS 32Bit DACs in the MCD1100 is on tap with the DAC2. The dynamics, sound stage, air, resolution, it's all there. My JBL 4312A's have never sounded better than they did earlier this afternoon, and I was cranking them. The upgrade in digital source quality has also spotlighted just how good the Tandberg 3026A amp and 3008A preamp are. Quite amazing. Tomorrow my new five meter pair of Wireworld Oasis speaker cable arrives to replace the 14 gauge Monster cord that has been in the travel trailer system since I bought the JBL's new in 1989. I expect the Oasis speaker cable will give me another performance boost.

I am absolutely thrilled with the way my vintage system now sounds. If I had no other audio gear, I could live with this sound system for a long time. It had me bobbing my head and tapping my feet today, big time. What a fun hobby.

I will eventually do some testing of the DAC2 against the MCD1100 in my two systems in the house, but for now I am too excited about the way my vintage system is sounding to take the DAC2 out. I'll do the comparisons eventually.

Here are some photos of the way the system is installed in overhead cabinets in the living room area of the travel trailer. I may pull the system out of the cabinets, maybe put a small rack in there. I'm still pondering that.