I've use the SB2/3 with various DACS and also used solely the analogue outs. For a system such as you are planning you'll need a dac without question. In my experience the next most important upgrade is to get a linear power supply (like the Elpac), which can be got extremely cheaply. I have no idea about the other Bolder type upgrades/modifications.
Personally I didn't like the SB2/3 with the Benchmark Dac, finding it tiring, harsh and rather flat and metallic (Others think the combination sounds wonderful though). I also used an Arcam Black Box, which was comfortably warm but vague and indistinct. The best one I've used was a Perpetual Technologies PA-3 (sometimes with PA-1 upsampling thingy and Monolithic power supply). This had all the detail of the Benchmark but was not tiring or harsh and the sound appeared more three dimensional. I've not used the Lavry but would love to try it. The Transporter sounds much better than the SB3 with any of the Dac's I've tried. The sound is extremely clean and pure, and listening is very comfortable indeed. But, to put this into some sort of context, nothing I've tried sounds as good as my NAIM CDX CD player which just seems to have more depth, body, welly and sheer musicality than anything else I've heard. With one's eyes shut and someone else switching between the SB3/Transporter and the CDX, playing the same music simultaneously at the same levels it is simple to pick out the CDX every single time. Everything else sounds a little thin and insubstantial in comparison. The difference is extremely apparent if one has smoked some weed. MC -- ModelCitizen Now what? Transporter > Naim NAP 250 > PMC OB1s. Music catalog: http://modelcitizen.mine.nu/music.txt ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ModelCitizen's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=446 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=31053 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
