[nirvanalvr12]

I've decided that I want to upgrade my home system slightly. Right now I have a Toshiba SD-3109 DVD player as my source. I use the line out to an amp (which i am considering upgrading some time in the near future). Would I benefit more from buying a new CD/DVD player and running it straight to an amp, or buying a DAC-AH and using the optical out of my current player?
If I do end up purchasing a new player, I do not want to spend too much more than I would on the DAC..
Any input would be very appriciated, and if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Thanks

 

[spikyho]

bump

I got the same DVD player and was also considering a DAC-AH.

 

[Ghislain]

I presume that you are looking to improve your 2 channel experience and that the amp you are talking about is actually an av receiver?
IMHO there are at least two possible routes:

1) Seperate 2 channel/multichannel by including a dedicated stereo amp which drives your fronts and add a dedicated (SA)CD player directly connected to the amp

2) Leave your system as is and include a DAC (preferably connected via the coax output of your DVD player - optical outputs usually produce too much jitter)

What is your current equipment? basically, you want to more or less match all components in your chain to het the most out of it.

I have personally choosen the DAC route as an intermediate step and up until now I am glad I did as it dramatically improved the stereo experience. However, I do plan to seperate stereo and HT environments by adding in a dedicated stereo amp.

 

[fewtch]

I have an SD-2109... those older Toshibas have great picture quality! (if you don't need progressive)... I'd say get a new player, and move the Toshiba over to your TV set to watch movies on

. Unless you're already doing that, or you retired it to audio for a purpose.

On the lower end, it's possible you'd actually benefit more from a DAC though... depending on how picky you are about the player you get. Something like a DAC-AH can be a big improvement on a stock DVD player's analog outs, but there are some older CD players out there with very good sounding DACs.