C2500 and Another DAC, or Just Go With A D1100?

[krustycat]

You may also be able to find a c2600 that it’s said to have a very good DAC, so you have all in one box.

[David]

Originally Posted by John Clark

That describes the sound I am looking for. If the 2300 will provide me with it, I can skip the 2500 (which a fair number of comments in this forum would seem to indicate has some reliability issues). John

The S/N ratio on the C2300 is listed in the manual as 93db and the C2500 is 100db. The C2500 will probably sound clearer and more resolving.

[JBT]

D1100

[John Clark]

Originally Posted by JBT

D1100

Will the D1100 give me the sound signature I quoted from the review of the 2500?

John

[krustycat]

No, you need a tube preamp for that.

[joey_corleoni]

I'm a fan of separates. I would buy the best preamp you can reasonably afford, or keep saving and get the c1100. Once you have your preamp set, I'd repeat that same concept and get the best DAC you can reasonably afford.

I'm always a fan of buying the best single component you can buy, building slower if you have to. Just my opinion

Joe

[ejr1953]

I've been heavy into digital audio for a few years now, and feel that some of the best improvements in audio these days are in the DACs becoming available.

Though the McIntosh products use well-respected DAC chipsets (I believe they are now using some of the better ESS models), I opted for a separate DAC about 3+ years ago, selecting a PS Audio DirectStream DAC, since it arrived, I haven't "looked back".

The DirectStream DAC is based not on an "off the shelf" DAC chipset, instead they selected an FPGA (field programmable gate array) chip for the heart of their unit. The advantage of an FPGA-based DAC is that the manufacturer can supply firmware updates which improve the performance of the DAC. Since owning my DAC, I think I've applied 4-5 firmware updates, each one of them have made significant improvements in the sound quality.

I'm a big fan of McIntosh pre and power amps and find that they work really well with my external DAC.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by ejr1953

I've been heavy into digital audio for a few years now, and feel that some of the best improvements in audio these days are in the DACs becoming available.

Though the McIntosh products use well-respected DAC chipsets (I believe they are now using some of the better ESS models), I opted for a separate DAC about 3+ years ago, selecting a PS Audio DirectStream DAC, since it arrived, I haven't "looked back".

The DirectStream DAC is based not on an "off the shelf" DAC chipset, instead they selected an FPGA (field programmable gate array) chip for the heart of their unit. The advantage of an FPGA-based DAC is that the manufacturer can supply firmware updates which improve the performance of the DAC. Since owning my DAC, I think I've applied 4-5 firmware updates, each one of them have made significant improvements in the sound quality.

I'm a big fan of McIntosh pre and power amps and find that they work really well with my external DAC.

Smart

[crwilli]

Just my opinion of what I would do.

Get the C2500 or a used C2300 and then another company’s DAC.

[krustycat]

Exactly, if you can find a used c2500 at a good price, you can live with the international DAC until you have the funds for an external DAC.

Dan recently bought and reviewed a DAC which he says is very close to his Esoteric K-01X, trust him, that was a huge compliment.