Sips, although JohnK speaks with an informed authority, his opinions are not universally accepted by people who also take seriously our ... what is it, a hobby, preoccupation, obsession, delight? whatever, our friends over at
AudioKarma took the time to review various DACS and concluded that no 2 DACS had the same sound quality. Disturbing as that may be, this conclusion is based on the experience of a group of folks who took the time to inform themselves about this question.
Here is how one enthusiast ranked the various DACS compared:
1. MDA-1000 - all by itself at the top. Nothing else even came close.
2. Modwright Perpetual Technologies P3A with CIA power supply
3. Cambridge 840C CD player
4. Grace m902
5. Monarchy M24
6. Lite Dac-Ah modified by Pacific Valves
7. Lite DAC60
8. Music Hall CD player
9. McIntosh MDA-700
10.Adcom GDA-600
All DACS sound the same;
All CD players sound the same;
All solid state amplifiers sound the same;
All interconnects sound the same;
All speaker cabling sounds the same.
Now, I respect JohnK for the congenial uniformity of his opinions and his zeal in espousing what comes close to an orthodox set of opinions on the Axiom forums. On the other hand, I respectfully disagree with JohnK.
