I intended to mention the Eastern Electric DAC in my other post. That thing just mopped up the floor with the d/a in that Sony player. Technology advances and that sony player is pushing a decade now. I am glad Jim (it was Jim right?) brought that stuff for us to hear.
The big question that I'll try to answer is if my Peachtree iDac can be bettered without spending a fortune. I don't hear much of a difference between it and the Sony 3100ES that feeds it, but I can't say if thats a testament to the fairly recent Sony or not. I'm thinking the M51 would be a significant step up in sound quality but at some point I have to balance price/performance.
Nice 27,000th post
Sometimes ignorance is bliss. I'll bury my head in the sand until I could consider an upgrade.
John, are you moving into a bigger place with more audio storage?
Great thread, btw.
I was extremely impressed with the Alpha. Knowing that you have the NAD M51, and having already read this entire thread, I want to ask you this:
If you were going to buy one or the other for use as a stand-alone DAC (I think both can be a digital pre/DAC) and having a decent transport and Airport Express as the digital sources, which would you prefer assuming close to full retail cost?