DAC Options for VA + Bentley

[christoff83]

Hi all,

Hope everyone is doing well.

Any comments / suggestions on pairing a DAC to a Valve Audio Exclame 150 & Bentley Acoustics FR200 combo?

Intention is to do justice to that setup and extract as much as possible from that combo as a DAC can without overspending.

Current options:

• Stick with what I have - which is Yamaha WXAD10 streamer/DAC. It might be good enough. I don't know; suspect it's not on par with the VA/Bentley combo.
• AudioQuest Dragonfly Red/ Cobalt? Cobalt got VERY expensive last two years or so.
• iFi Zen DAC v2
• iFi Zen Signature v2 - apparently much better internals than standard Zen Dac. >>> Currently probably the front runner.

Happy to buy new for a few K or go classifieds to get something more affordable or something better. I don't need an all-in-one or streaming capabilities. I actually want a DAC, that is just a DAC, and a damn good DAC. I'll experiment and build a standalone Roon endpoint as player/streamer connected to a standalone DAC and/or play off iPhone via cable to DAC.

The thing is, I don't know which DAC, or which class/level of DAC will bring the most out of the amp/speaker combo mentioned without being overkill.

Any advice will be appreciated.

Have a good one!

 

[Nirvana]

 

[Octave (asr001)]

 

[christoff83]

 

[Octave (asr001)]

 

[Vades]

 

[Sarel.wagner]

 

[JuggyUK]

 

[WAP]

 

[stefwithaph]

 

[christoff83]

 

[Vades]

 

[Nikkel]

 

[Nirvana]

 

[Cam]

 

[JonnyP]