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Originally Posted by strangedaze39 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
My original plan was to use my Oritek and a 3 board B22.
I could sell the Oritek and buy the Opus balanced DAC and match with the 4 board B22. But is balanced amps/audio worth it ?
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You'll get a different answer from everyone you ask. I went from SE to balanced a while back, and have no intentions of going back to SE. To me the gains from balancing are worth it, and I've since balanced my speaker rig too.
I currently own a four channel balanced β22 with TPA Joshua Tree logarithmic attenuator, and a balanced, dual differential Opus DAC with Zapfilter MkII discrete output stage (the system pabbi1 listened to). IMHO I think I've reached the pinnacle of amplification for dynamic headphones. I don't think there's an amp currently being built that can best this one regardless of cost.
As for the Opus DAC, it's surpassed all of my previous DACs (Lavry Black & Zapfiltered Zhaolu D2C), and is a fantastic bargain IMO.
The amp and DAC are currently being tweaked by our own luvdunhill ATM, and Marc has told me that the mods he's done to the Opus thus far have really payed dividends especially in soundstage and imaging. Thus far he's removed some resistors in the signal path, bypassed some caps that are not needed with the Zapfilter, and rewired some sections with solid Silver wire w/unbleached cotton insulation. Next he's planning to upgrade some parts on the Zapfilter's power supply, and add a TPA OTTO switcher to switch between the Toslink input and the new AES/EBU input he's adding.
As for the amp it's getting a rewire with the same solid Silver wire, a second set of balanced inputs and a TPA OTTO of it's own to switch between the inputs.
So I guess what I'm saying is that the β22/Opus combo was already one of the best I'd heard, and now I'm told it's even better. Factor in that you can have a four channel β22 built for $1,500.00-$2,000.00, when most knowledgeable experts say it would retail in the $5000.00-$8,000.00 range, and it's a no brainer IMO.
My Opus project w/the dual DAC boards and Zapfilter still came in under $1000.00, and totally, and completely trumps the Lavry that sells for the same price.
Now I hear that TPA has a new DAC coming out that sounds even more intriguing.
