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So I moved with the speakers around the room following the instructions on the link provided by Barry. Wow, what a change! I did not expect that. According to the instructions I had to place the speakers almost 2 meters (6 ft) from the wall behind them. (The distance up to now was 50 cm). I must say right away that this cannot be the final solution as my girlfriend would not find enough understanding for such an arrangement of our living room but it was just to try the effect. The sound "moved" to the space between and in front of the speakers. It does not anymore come from the speakers, but it is hanging in front and it is difficult to judge where the source is. Lows (bass) got slighly reduced but are much cleaner now. Then I tried to move with the speakers backwards (again closer to the wall behind them ending up at 1 m from the wall and I would say the effect is very comparable to the situation when they were 2 m from the wall. These things are fun. I would not believe that 50 cm displacement of the speakers makes such a difference. I guess I am done with upgrading the system. Now I am happy. (I might though try some other things like improving the power supply...) Thanks a lot!

Thank you for all comments and opinions. It took me some time to read it all - every component of the system was suggested for a replacement I would like to reply to some of the remarks: 1) Many of you suggest cabling. I am quite surprised by this fact. Can cable replacement really lead to sound quality enhancement? I have bought some hifi cables with the speakers (taking the recommendation of the seller), but there is a common/standard usb cable between the pc and the rDAC... could this change something? 2) I use older Dell Latitude 820D laptop (Windows) as media server and I play music files from iTunes and VLC. I have tried to play music also from MacBook Pro, but I did not hear any difference in the quality. Am I correct to expect that computer does not matter (not considering the noise of cooling fans)? One of you was concerned about the soundcard of the computer. My assumption is that this one is completely ignored. The rDAC acts as a soundcard and the internal one is ignored. Am I right? 3) Thank you for the tip about the Jim Smith's book. I will get it. 4) I follow the story on power supply for rDAC. I would be interested to try this, but I refuse to pay couple hundred euros for a fancy source and then find out I cannot tell a difference. I would only buy, if I have a chance to test it first. BTW, the power supply comming with the rDAC is really lousy. The power connector is rather loose and I have already experienced the rDAC to switch spontaneously off and on due to the loose connection... 5) Making equipment "floating". Yesterday I installed the "spikes" on the speakers (up to now they stood freely on the floor). I cannot really tell a difference, but they are now installed. 6) The room: I guess this could really make a significant difference. I actually have no clue how the right listening room should look like. BUT, I do not have a dedicated room, the sound system is the part of my living room and I do not intend to re-arrange the room for the needs of the sound system. I guess with this I disqualify as audiophile I enjoy and appriciate good sound, but I am not such a fan that I would let the sound quality to dictate other aspects of my life. 7) What do I want to improve? Why do I want change? Honestly, I do not know. I was pleased with the change when I bought rDAC. I was also pleased when I first heard 24/96 music on my system. I couldn't tell before what was missing, I just know that these changes improved the quality and I wouldn't want to go back. The soundstage is broader, highs and lows clearer, music gets sort of crispiness, fine details are audible. These success made me curious, how big are the reserves of the system, how much can be yet improved with inexpensive changes? Once again, thank you all for your comments. I find this site very nice, friendly, and useful!

Hi, I would like to ask for your experience, what is the best strategy to find out the weakest link in the audio setup. I have rDAC (via USB) + Marantz PM6003 + Focal Chorus 726V. I have learnt the lesson about the source quality. It was a big improvement when I ripped my CDs in lossless quality and purchased the first 96/24 songs. (Before all my music was purchased on iTunes.) This succes made me think, how much further can I go in the optimization process? I do not plan to change speakers as it would be cumbersome to sell them, transport new ones, etc. They had very positive rating in their price category, and I find them a good choice for the music I like to listen to (jazz, blues...) How can one tell, whether the amplifier & DAC are on par with the quality of the speakers? Should I focus more on the amplifier or the DAC? Where am I more likely to achieve more improvement? I have bought all components about a year ago and have established something like a reference listening experience. I guess now it would make sence to test some better components and hear what difference they make and what would have to be the price for the improvement. I do not want to spend big amount of money on some improvement that I will barely notice, yet if I would find out that the current setup has still significant reserves and a couple hundred euros would make a difference, I would go for it. Thank you for your comments.

And if you would compare the rDAC's optical input with the USB input of DACMagic, would rDAC be still better?<br /> <br /> I search for an external DAC in this price category and I plan to use both inputs - optical for a CD player and USB for a computer (iTunes as a source). <br /> <br /> Thank you for the interesting review.

I wish it had wifi, 24/192 over usb, and since I'm wishing, an AM/FM tuner to justify the price delta with the CA Dac-Magic. As I have said previously, I expect once NA7004 is connected (with ethernet cable) to a wireless router, all compatible devices within home network should be able to connect to it. If not, this would be a strong disappointment for me. A buddy of mine has the CA dac magic and loves it - I need to borrow it to compare how it sounds via usb compared to my marantz CD player (CC4003 which i love) I had a possibility in the past to compare DACmagic and HD980 coupled with HK980 (Harman Kardon). I would say this CD player and amplifier are on comparable level with CD6003 and PM6003 from Marantz. I have bypassed the HD980's DAC by plugging DACmagic between digital output of HD980 and analog input of HK980. I was trully impressed about the improvement in sound quality! I would expect similar for CD6003. The DAC of NA7004, however, should be more advanced. I will have a chance to compare DACmagic and NA7004's DAC within 10 days...

I know, I would like to know much more about this product, but this is so far the only review I am aware of. It triggers in me even more questions rather than providing answers. I will have a possibility to test NA7004 on 29/11. I have arranged it with a dealer. I am building the first hi-fi system. I have purchased Focal Chorus 726V speakers and Marantz PM6003 amplifier and in the next step I want to decide on the missing link between the amplifier and my computer (MacBook Pro) I want to compare NA7004 and DACMagic & Airport Express for various sources (different quality audio files from iTunes including ALAC ripped CDs and real CDs played from 6003 CD player) + I want to see how easy it is to operate NA7004.

http://whathifi.com/Review/Marantz-NA7004/

Hi, first of all thanks for this great usefull web! I consider to buy NA7004. However, some things are not clear to me: 1) The user guide of NA7004 says it cannot play copyright protected AAC files from USB or while connected to a music server. Does it mean that it won't work with my iTunes collection? I would say this contradicts the press release that claims NA7004 works with Airplay. 2) Signal from Apple's Airport Express optical SPDIF is downsampled to 16bits/44.1kHz. Where does the downsampling take place? At Airplay side before it is sent to Airport Express or at Airport Express itself? Will there be any benefit of using Airplay with NA7004 or the signal stays limited to 16bits/44.1kHz? 3) How does NA7004 DAC stand in comparison with "budget" external DACs such as CA DACmagic? Obvious where I am aiming, right? In other words, I try to decide between DACmagic+Airport Express and NA7004. It is clear that NA7004 offers nicely integrated environment and additional features such as digital iPhone connection, connection to internet audio streaming services, etc. but those are not that important for me. What I want is a user friendly implementation of iTunes into a home stereo system that will not compromise on sound quality, which Airport Express does to certain extent due to downsampling the signal before its upsampling by an external DAC. Thanks in advance for your help.