To clarify, the headphone out on the Maverick Tubemagic D1 does not pass through the tube signal path, it's solid state. I simply bought an O2 headphone amplifier as the headphone stage so that I could use the tube out, because I like tube characteristics. It uses two TI OPA627 OpAmps. On the back it has a tube pre-out, and solid-state line out, along with an analog in, USB in, digital coaxial in, and optical in. You can easily upgrade the opamp (or tube) with whatever you desire down the road if you want to try something different.
I'm in the camp that thinks that for the price, it's incredibly hard to beat. If your budget is $700-800 then @ $254 you would have enough for a separate power amplifier for passive bookshelf speakers (if you went that route). You could do what I did for a long time which is use the tube out for your speakers for a little change of pace, or just use the headphone out and then the standard analog out for your speakers. Speaking of price - did you email JDS Labs to see if you can persuade them to ship to you? Just a thought.
NAD products are top-notch so if you want to go that route, I wouldn't blame you. Between $750-800 puts you right in the range for a pre-owned Benchmark DAC-1, which if you're a solid-state guy might be right up your alley.
Some other thoughts:
- The 1050 has the added benefit of balanced XLR outs, and 24/192 (the D1 also has this, but not balanced outs). So if down the road you get active (powered) bookshelf / studio monitors that have balanced inputs, you can take advantage of that
- I wouldn't go with the 3020 because I think it's doing more in one unit than you need it to, and it's "only" 24/96. The power amp would be nice if you already had some efficient passive bookshelves that you love, but you don't, and down the road you might get active monitors which would eliminate the need for a power amplifier
- The 7050 is an awesome unit if 1) you use a mac / iphone and 2) you want / need AirPlay to stream to it from a different place in your house. That said, if you don't need streaming functionality now, but might in the future, you could always add something like a Meridian Source 200 or whatever equivalent product you choose
- I feel the same way about the TEAC as I do about the 3020 - if you already have passive monitors that you love, great, otherwise you may be wasting money on a power amplifier that you don't need in a unit that you only need to be a DAC / preamplifier
- The Cambridge is a great unit, I've heard nothing but wonderful things about it
So, if my opinion matters, I have narrowed your choices down to four! The Mav, the NAD 1050, the Cambridge, and a pre-owned Benchmark DAC1. There are so many other choices out there, but this is my two cents.
