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... which DAC got replaced.
Disconcerted, especially because these folks were my friends, and we had agreed to eat dinner together, I left the room quickly, disturbed by the fact that journalistic integrity left me no choice but to trash the system. Eventually, on the last day of the Show, I returned to discover a DAC switch to the brand-new Lynx Hilo 192kHz FireWire ADC/DAC ($2500). Switching to this baby, one of long-respected "Pro Audio" company's first forays into the audiophile market, removed all trace of edginess and incoherence from the system.
Playing RedBook, CD-sourced files, the system sounded great. In fact, given the amount of believable air, soundstage coherence, and three-dimensionality it brought to 16/44.1 files, I urged Rob (shown in the photo above) to ditch his hi-res demos, and just focus on 16/44.1 for the remainder of the show.
This was a major system that took up three sides of the room. Other components included, from Channel D, the Seta RCM analog RIAA correction module ($1200), Seta Nano 2 MHz phono stage ($1600), Mac the Scope audio analyzer ($449), and Waavebox signal generator ($199); Artemis SA-1 turntable ($7800) with Graham Phantom II Supreme tonearm ($5750), Ortofon A 90 MC cartridge ($4600), and Haniwa HCTR 01 MC cartridge ($5000); lots of Apple products with extra Synolgy storage; a Hegel H20 amplifier ($6500); and Audioquest Niagara XLR interconnects ($1800) and Diamond USB cable ($700). But the two ends of the chainChannel D software and Joseph Audio speakersmade it all come to life.
... which DAC got replaced.