Dac ?

[W9TR]

Originally Posted by decooney

Anyone here seen or heard the Kassandra DAC before?

An Audio Note dac fan on another forum who's owned 15-20 DACs mentioned this as one of his top DACs now. Could not help but notice familiar similarities in the top plate cutouts and see-through glass front styling.

https://ariesceratespana.com/pages/k...nature-dac-sp/

I had a great time learning about this DAC. It uses 32, count ‘em 32 AD1865 converters, which are dual themselves! Yikes! That’s an all out assault on an R2R DAC implementation. These AD parts are obsolete as well, so I’m guessing he’s hoping not to sell too mainly of these. Oh, it weighs 60 kg, that’s 132 Lbs.
I’d love to hear one sometime.
Tom

[FloridaBoy]

I believe the price is around $120,000. If I sell some internal organs...

[audio bill]

Originally Posted by FloridaBoy

I believe the price is around $120,000. If I sell some internal organs...

Fortunately you won't have to go to that extreme , with a brief search I found the following dated Sept. 2018:

"...the Kassandra Dac lists for 18000 Euros and the importer quoted me $35K US."

[decooney]

Located a 2016 Stereophile article ("Introducing Aries Cerat") showing a similar looking Kassandra DAC for $35,000 US. Looked up measurements as photos are difficult to tell, translates to 21.25"x13.77"x6.5" a pretty sizable DAC in any case.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/...ng-aries-cerat

[decooney]

Originally Posted by FRO

Got a deal on a Boulder 1021 CD/Streamer Player.
Anxious to see how it performs next to my Ayre QX-5 Twenty????

Nice. And, Wow have you seen the new Boulder 21210 Digital-To-Analog-Converter (and this is just for the DAC)?

[FloridaBoy]

Originally Posted by audio bill

Fortunately you won't have to go to that extreme , with a brief search I found the following dated Sept. 2018:

"...the Kassandra Dac lists for 18000 Euros and the importer quoted me $35K US."

I found this: The Signature LE will be available in Q4 ,2015,and is 55.000 Euros retail. There is also a 'plus' version that will add a volume control and a signature limited edition version that with the dac and power supply weighs 285 pounds...

Way out of my wheelhouse.

[audio bill]

Originally Posted by FloridaBoy

I found this: The Signature LE will be available in Q4 ,2015,and is 55.000 Euros retail. There is also a 'plus' version that will add a volume control and a signature limited edition version that with the dac and power supply weighs 285 pounds...

Way out of my wheelhouse.

In today's high end audio market there's no end to the madness!

[FloridaBoy]

Originally Posted by audio bill

In today's high end audio market there's no end to the madness!

What we need Bill is a winning power ball ticket.

I was working in LA 24 years ago and went to Acoustic Image in Studio City. It's still there. Great folks. Same owner, Elliot Midwood. They were setting up a $200K system for a client. That was a lot of $$$ then. I came back for a listen, before the customer's audition. I and they were underwhelmed. But that is what the customer wanted.

Another High End dealer I respect said "In the end it's just your stereo."

[decooney]

It's fun to be aware of these high $ units too, particularly when a $1,500 unit comes along and competes or beats the $35,000 unit favorably. IIRC, recently noting more than a few audiophiles selling off their ultra high-end / high-$ amplifiers in favor of ones 1/5th the price and happily pocketing the difference

[FloridaBoy]

The DAC is still improving. It's kind of weird to buy something you have not heard but I'm glad I did. I 'spose I'll go for his SPDIF cable. There just may be some synergy with his wire. It's $134 shipped and has wood covered RCA's.