SlickenSmooth

Sounds good! I'll definitely going to look into that! I think Spectral WILL release a DAC in the near future. If so I'de be happy to buy it. My dealer always says it's best to stay all Spectral if you choose Spectral. He really believes in synergy. Having heard him prove it (with various CD players and amps mixed with Spectral and then an all Spectral) I have to agree. I believe Spectral will only release a computer interface DAC if they know for sure that that it's really really good. They've always been like this. I really like the DCS setup that you described I think I'll have my dealer put it together and have a good listen. My dealer also believes that computer audio will be the future but in his opinion the sound is just not up to par with the very best CD playback yet. But he says within 3 years though it will probably surpass the best CD players. Thanks for your time to explain it to a computeraudio noob like me!

Well right now I only play CD's yes. But higher resolution files and the ease of having all of your CD's in one package defenitely attracts me. That being said I would not EVER sacrifice a tiny bit of soundquality for ease of use. CD's player's being considered: -DCS (all models) -Audio Research Reference CD8 -Spectral SDR-4000 PRO , the 4000SL is coming this year and knowing Spectral it will be even better (shiver ) Yes other DAC's are being considered too. I chose the Alpha Dac because lots of people say it has lots of synergy with Spectral. Ultimately I'd like to know which route will take me to the 'best' soundquality. So I can start investing now.

Actually the question was: Is it better to go directly from the Alpha dac (use it as a source and preamp) or is it better to go Spectral preamp with top level CD player?

Thanks for the input everyone! I appreciate it. Barrows why would you think that an alpha dac would do better than a Spectral SDR-4000 PRO CD player in an all Spectral setup? Just curious.. Because my dealer proved to me that synergy is VERY important. Even an complete Scarlatti CD stack didn't sound as good as the Spectral CD player in an all Spectral system. Ofcourse the Spectral CD player costs roughly 5 times more than an alpha dac so it's not totally fair..

A preamp tries to pass the signal as 'pure' as possible to the power amp. And it regulars te volume. Ofcourse this roughly describes a preamp.

Seems like a great idea! But what I'd ultimately like to know is: Using the DAC as a preamp will it surpass a world class pre like the Spectral 30-SS? It'd seem logical to me that a preamp which is completely build to do it's work as a pre would be better than a DAC fuctioning as a preamp. I don't question that the sound of an Berkeley DAC driving my DMA-250 will sound amazing. But I find it hard to believe that it would beat an all Spectral system like the DMC-30SS/ DMA-250/ SDR-4000 CDPRO which I've heard at my dealer. If the Berkeley DAC can do the same as a 30-SS that would save me some BIG BUCKS!

I'd like to have your advice about it as a preamp for my Spectral DMA-250. How would you rate it against a good Spectral preamp? My dealer likes the Alpha Dac a LOT, but he says he'll always prefer a Spectral preamp to drive a Spectral poweramp. He says it's because of 1) synergy and 2) the Alpha Dac is a good preamp but definitely not as good as a Spectral 30SL G2/ SHAA2 or a 30SS. I ask this because I have to choose between 2 setups to live with for a while: 1) PC-Lynx AES16 > Berkeley Alpha Dac > Spectral DMA-250 > Magnum MA Cables or 2) Spectral 30SL G2/ SHAA2 > Spectral DMA-250 > DCS Puccini CD player or Audio Research Reference CD 8 > Magnum MA cables What's your advice on this? I cannot audition the Alpha DAC as I need to import it. Thanks.