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Posted

Oh.

Yeah, after re-reading his post, I think you're right.

Yeah, I meant that if I decided I preferred the Duet or whatever, I could sell it without too much of a loss. I'm not interested in the cdp, only the dac. I still plan to use my comp as a source. However, it might be nice to be able to use cds on occasion.

Posted

In the case of the Opus it's a $5000 one ;) and the comparison is more like $1599 vs. $5000 vs. whatever the philips originally sold for.

I didn't realize it had the GNSC mods. Even more impressive.

Posted

Thanks for further comparisons, especially on soundstage and digital inputs. Interesting to read that Opus 21's digital-in doesn't quite hold up its own - I almost went with Opus 21 because of the digital in (there was a great deal on a used one), until 840c came around.

Posted

Any comparisons of the 840c's DAC to other outboard DACs like the Lavry DA10 or Benchmark DAC1?

I took my Lavry DA10 to SK138's home last fall and compared it to his 840c. On some tracks we heard no differences while on others the detail in the high frequencies was more clear with the 840c. They both were very smooth and musical to us using my Ultrasone Edition 9. Overall, the 840c being a transport and balance DAC is a bargain for the price. With me having the Lavry already I don't see the difference as being warranted to upgrade for me. BUT,,,if I had the 840c at home for a couple of weeks and then listened back to the Lavry the differences I heard may have been much more pronounced since it has been my experience that going up in quality is much harder to measure as a distinct difference compared with going back down in quality.

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...
Posted

Ok, so my dad's source search led us to try out the 840C. We tried most of the Arcam line and it didnt fit well with the gear (the highs are too rolled off with Mcintosh gear) so we went to a store and tried out the 840C with Anthem preamp/power amp and some high end Focal speakers. The sound was very tinny and wasnt to my liking at all. Asked the dealer what he would recommend and we tried the Marantz SA-15S1 and it kicked its ass. Better bass response, better separation, better everything :(

I went in with good thoughts about the 840C and came out disappointed. :(

Posted

had you heard the anthem or focal stuff before? if not, who knows what actually sounded like what.

Well, the only thing changed was the CDP so I assumed it was that, but youre right, I have no idea what the system was "supposed" to sound like. Gotta get a home demo soon :)

  • 3 months later...
Posted

Holy thread necromancy, Batman!

I see that tkam has moved on from this player but I found this thread to be VERY informative. :)

Has anyone had a chance to compare an Apogee MiniDac against the Cambridge 840c? I've seen several other comparable Dacs mentioned and I figured I'd fire this off and see if anything turned up.

Posted
Salt Peanuts just picked up a Duet and has an 840c, so hopefully we'll hear something there.

That's cool. I haven't been clear on this but is it true that the Duet is a little bit better than the Mini-DAC? In other words, it's a successor of sorts?

I'll look forward to Salt Peanuts' impressions when he has the time. :)

Posted
That's cool. I haven't been clear on this but is it true that the Duet is a little bit better than the Mini-DAC? In other words, it's a successor of sorts?

I'll look forward to Salt Peanuts' impressions when he has the time. :)

Who am I kidding? I went ahead and placed an order for the 840c today and I should have it by the end of the week hopefully. Looking forward to it!

Posted

congrats on the 840C, the casualty for me was the DAC1 (booted out the door). however, I've kept my miniDAC-USB - quite a 'swiss army knife' in smallish form factor, with non-fatiguing sound (...and goes to '11')

Posted
congrats on the 840C, the casualty for me was the DAC1 (booted out the door). however, I've kept my miniDAC-USB - quite a 'swiss army knife' in smallish form factor, with non-fatiguing sound (...and goes to '11')

I like mine, too and if it doesn't sell I won't be upset about it but it's just kind of the odd man out for at this point since the 840c functions as a great DAC as well. I really don't need the portability. It's no knock against the Mini-DAC whatsoever.

Posted
Do you find their sound signatures reasonably similar?

Yes, except the 840c has even more detail, imaging and stage prescence and that's saying something since the Mini DAC is excellent on all of those things.

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