Musical Fidelity A3^24 DAC

[DanG]

I just read Sam Tellig's usual over-the-top rave review of the Musical Fidelity A3^24 upsampling DAC which retails for $1195. He says it's just plainly an amazing DAC and had it placed in the "A" list of this month's recommended components list, along with a bunch of other products which have the same descriptions they had 6 (and sometimes 12) months ago.

I'd been considering a move to upgrade my digital front-end under $2000 by the end of the summer, and a DAC had always been an attractive choice for me because I already have a CD player with a coaxial digital output and because should I want SACD capability in the future, I could use the DAC with an SACD player.

However, I'm very wary of Sam Tellig's review. Despite the fact that I feel I cannot relate with Vertigo-1's musical tastes and the way he hears some audio equipment does not coincide with my own views, I was quite put off by his downright denunciation of the newer Rega Jupiter iteration which Sam Tellig absolutely loves. And Sam Tellig's review reads very much like an advertisement -- even compared to other Stereophile articles (yes, I am a subscriber so I've read a few).

So what I want to ask is... is it worth getting this DAC? Is there even the slightest chance that anyone here has heard this DAC in a headphone system? Perhaps the closest competitor would be the Perpetual Technologies P-3A DAC, but that reportedly needs the P-1A (very expensive) to move it into the top class of sub-$2000 DACs.

Ugh... all audio-equipment searching does is give headaches! And takes me away from my homework (how I do hate cosets and factor groups).

Oh yeah, and thanks everyone.

 

[bootman]

This is just the situation were having a good dealer is a must.
That way you can get a loner or a trial period to see if it mates well with your system.
Reviews are good to see if a product is worth considering but it can't really tell you
(unless the reviewer has the same taste as you in music and has the same equipment right down to the last cable)
how a product will sound in your home.

BTW, I find Sam's reviews to be a great read.
He can be funny at times and at least he gets to review products that us common folks might be able to try out and afford some day.

 

[DanG]

The problem is that I don't have a dealer in my vicinity... and now that I think of it, I'm not going to be buying anytime too soon -- probably 3-4 months down the road.

But I'm really wondering what my short list should be for DACs or DAC/processor combos under $2000 (preferably under $1500). If what Sam Tellig says is true, the A3^24 is a real find. But I'm having trouble believing that it would beat the pants off a Bel Canto 1.1 or Perp. Tech. P-3A/P-1A (even though Stereophile complains of jitter issues with this combo).

I really just wanted to see if anyone has heard this DAC in a headphone system to see if it warrants an audition. There are probably at least one Musical Fidelity dealer in the Boston area, but that might not be the case considering the company only recently ended its exclusive relationship with Audio Advisor.

 

[Rob N]

If it’s anywhere near as good as the Nu Vista 3D on which it’s based then I would certainly consider buying it.
I bought a Nu Vista 3D about 3 weeks ago I paid £1300 in the UK (the dealer was selling a brand new unopened example for £2450 and I had £1150 of equipment to trade in).I bought it largely based on the very good reviews it received in What Hi Fi,Hi Fi World and Hi Fi News (where they compared it to players in the £6000+ range)

It’s easily the best CD player I’ve had (previously I have had players in the £1000-1300 range Meridian 506.20 & Tube Technology Fusion 2) the soundstage is very wide almost as good as vinyl! I have a number of CD’s that usually sound rather thin but on the Nu Vista they have much more body and sound less harsh.

I can’t compare it to an SACD player as I’ve never heard one.

 

[pigmode]

Ya gotta wonder about ST, although he is the only one that admits to recieving gifts and being taken out to dinner all the time. I like his reviews, and if you read his column regularly I think you can somehow get a feel for when he is being honest or not. For instance, can anyone deny that he is a certified bend-over type of person for Triangle speakers?

 

[Dusty Chalk]

You know...I've been eyeing this MF DAC that's available in my local area, but it's one of their mid-fi components, I think it's the X-24K...it's only about US$200...but no upsampling, nor choke-regulation, which to me is the selling point of the A3^24...as soon as I saw that, I said to myself, "that's what I want now," and stopped lusting after the X-24K...

Until I read one sentence in that self-same review: Quote:

Upsampling as realized in the Musical Fidelity also does something else, which regular oversampling doesn't: it adds eight bits of random dither to the 16-bit CD.

He also says something about them using Crystal's default software that comes with the chip.

That kind of scares me, because a good upsampling system will resolve using the existing information, rather than "...random..."

But I still want to hear it. I lied when I said I never heard a great solid state amplifier. I have. In fact, I still own it -- MF's A3^CR power amp. It truly is great. And the explanation I got, from all my various reading, is based on the choke regulation -- which this DAC has.

But I would also look at Camelot's top-of-the-line DAC, and MSB Tech's DAC's (MSB's top-of-the-line "Platinum" DAC and the mentioned Camelot are a lot more expensive, though). Upsampling -- good!

Also wanted to mention that the April 2002 issue of Hi-Fi News also has a very positive review of it. They pretty much go on and on about it.

I am reading everything I can about it.

I should also mention that MF is coming out with a combination CDP/DAC/PRE, also high-end. I forget what it's called, but it's similar (PRE^24?). I would get that before I got a krappy Krell.

Kevin at Upscale Audio should be carrying it.

 

[Ken]