Best dac under 5 lakh

[Kushanava]

I moved from holo spring level 2 to ec designs power dac R. Its a much natural sounding dac and doesn't have a digital edge like any other dacs. The next dac i want to try is the abbas design.He was the designer behind the sw1 dacs.And now he has moved way ahead of the sw1 brand with his own creations...

 

[Lifespill]

I am using Chord Hugo TT2 with mScalar with Parasound JC2BP pre and JC5 pro and Focal Sopra 3 sparker. It's very resolving DAC. Good bass control. Good sound stage and 3D localizing. It's Good with Parasound which are a little warm side of neutral. Msacalar is not a must. It's good with uplscaling regular non audiophile source. The spaciousness and air it adds to the soundstage can sometimes be disconcerting and can sometimes spoil the centre image. TT2 is very holographic in resolving by itself. But I must say that 80% of the times I use TT2 with mScalar.

 

[essrand]

I recently got a Lampizator baltic 3 to mate with my luxman pre/power. It sounds superb. Baltic 3 will be a little higher than your budget but you can consider the amber 4 dac, which should come in under your budget.
Goldfinch acoustic bangalore is the D&D for Lampizator in India.
Cheers,
Sid

Welcome to the tube dac world. How do you like it compared to the Bricasti? Would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[sidvee]

Welcome to the tube dac world. How do you like it compared to the Bricasti? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Hello Essrand, I have owned quite a few tube based dacs prior to this, most recent was the ayon skylla 2 based on 6h30 tubes. Anyways I am thoroughly enjoying the Baltic 3, in some ways it is superior to the Bricasti, like resolution, especially of microdyamics. Also bass seems much more extended and the tubes really lend themselves to improved musicality of the performance. On the soundstage - width especially I believe Bricasti had a better representation. Overall I am very satisfied, i think anyone looking for a dac at or under $10,000 should consider this.
Cheers,
Sid