DacMagic - Low, Medium or High end??

[admin_exported]

So in the magazinethey recommend matching similarly priced sources (CD / turntables) and amps and speakers. But if i'm planning a new system with my iMac and a DAC as the source then how does this compare when choosing an amp? For example if i used a £200 DacMagic then would it be best suited to a £200 amp or a £400 one or even a £1000 one?

Cheers

 

[Thaiman]

That's a good question! I certainly wouldn't put them in the highend CAT! As which price range amp you should consider would be depending on your speakers, as I found amp/speakers synergy is more important in this type of set up.

 

[Anonymous]

I dont think you need to used budget components, I think DM is quite a capable product. I use with Kandy and Spendors for ex.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi i got a dac magic last week. Running it through a cyrus pre and two 8 powers. It souds ok, not in the same league as my cd8 se though, but its cheap and it does what it is meant to do. Its either that or spend £1600 on a new pre xpd qx.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

milo:
So in the magazinethey recommend matching similarly priced sources (CD / turntables) and amps and speakers. But if i'm planning a new system with my iMac and a DAC as the source then how does this compare when choosing an amp? For example if i used a £200 DacMagic then would it be best suited to a £200 amp or a £400 one or even a £1000 one?

Cheers

If you are running it with lossless files, don't skimp on the rest. I would suggest at least £500 on the amp and at least again for speakers. The DM would not be disgraced with an amp at £1500 either.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

dontcallmeshirley:Hi i got a dac magic last week. Running it through a cyrus pre and two 8 powers. It souds ok, not in the same league as my cd8 se though, but its cheap and it does what it is meant to do. Its either that or spend £1600 on a new pre xpd qx.

Are you using lossless files? It might have something to do with going from an all Cyrus set up - must sound quite a bit different.

 

[pete321]

Very pleased with mine and I've taken it to a different level with Burson OpAmps installed into it - AudioUpgrades. You don't need to go the whole hogg with their upgrade path, I had a semi-level 1b costing £155. AudioUpgrades reckon the Burson's take it to a £1k plus DAC level!

The beresford DAC may prove a better option as it's cheaper to start with, not sure if the Burson's fit in it though, speak to Brent at AudioUpgrades, he's very helpful.

 

[Anonymous]

Quoting myself from another current post:

"I had a little windfall recently and upgraded to a Cyrus DAC XP, but before that I had a DACMagic and a Cyrus PreVS2 (preamp) going into a pair of Cyrus X Power (power amplifiers), and later a pair of Cyrus Mono X (power amplifier). I was and still using laptop/iTunes as the source and wirelessly connected to the Hi Fi via Apple's Airport Express.

The point of all this background info is that I listened to a Cyrus CD8se and CD6se (which respectively contains the DAC modules of the 8XPd Qx and 8XPd), but my ears told me to keep the DACMagic instead of buying either of those CD players. I was more than happy with that DACMagic set up until the windfall tempted me to upgrade the DAC. That should tell you something about the quality of the DACMagic and may help you to decide the route you wish to take, or my apologies if the above confuses you even more!!"

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys!

 

[Anonymous]

pete321:
Very pleased with mine and I've taken it to a different level with Burson OpAmps installed into it - AudioUpgrades. You don't need to go the whole hogg with their upgrade path, I had a semi-level 1b costing £155. AudioUpgrades reckon the Burson's take it to a £1k plus DAC level!

The beresford DAC may prove a better option as it's cheaper to start with, not sure if the Burson's fit in it though, speak to Brent at AudioUpgrades, he's very helpful.

Interesting, I would love to know if they do fit the beresford. Looking at this link: http://www.audioupgrades.co.uk/burson.shtml those ops are massive, so even if they were compatable, I dont think they will fit it the casework without some modification.

I will email Brent on the matter and see what his opinion is.