Audio Alchemy Ultra-DAC (DITB + DTI) DAC, Upgraded, w/custom Power Supply, Warranty

If you want a dac that just lets you relax & enjoy beautiful music, this is the dac for you.

Offered here is an extensively upgraded, by me, Stephen Sank of Talking Dog Transducer Co., Audio Alchemy "Dac in the Box", in it's "Ultra-DAC" model form, which has it attached to a DTI reclocking unit by a common front panel. This is the more desirable version of the DITB dac, with separate left & right channel Analog Devices AD1860 dac chips, rather than a single stereo AD1864 chip.

The DITB dac unit has been rebuilt with all Nichicon electrolytic capacitors(the most bulletproof & best performing lytic cap brand on earth), using capacitance values HUGELY larger than stock, to massively improve dynamics, impact & tonal richness. Secondly, large Nichicon caps were *added* where none existed, close as possible to the power input pins of the dac chips & analog stage opamp chip, making yet another dramatic step forward in dynamics & richness. That analog stage opamp chip has been upgraded to a Burr-Brown OPA2134PA, the most natural sounding opamp made. Further, the stock analog section's power regulators have been changed to output +/-12V, rather than +/-5V, to further improve dynamic headroom & overall sound, and all of the most important new electrolytic caps have film bypass caps accross them, under board or where they will fit. Final in-unit change was the deleting of the badly chosen power input jack, replaced instead with a hardwired, silverplate copper, teflon jacketed, shielded power supply cable.

This new hardwired supply cable terminates to a high-current/high-voltage-capable 3pin mini Amphenol locking connector that plugs into a completely new, custom, maximum-quality, regulated power supply. It starts with a pure-copper-pinned IEC power cord receptacle, to a magnetically-shielded power transformer, then to high-speed/soft-recovery rectifier diodes, feeding overkill-sized pre-regulator filter capacitors, then the voltage regulators, then overkill-sized post-regulator filter caps, and finally to the panel-mounted mini-Amphenol plug.

Thanks to the upgrades, combined with the nature of the wonderful AD1860 r2r parallel ladder dac chips, this is a dac that, while not the ultimate in resolution, is one of the most classically vinyl-sounding dacs you'll ever hear. It will never fatigue or irritate you ears, and will be a little bit forgiving of even bad recordings, while still having *BIG* dynamics & soundstage, and overall wonderfully rich, fluid tone. It is by far the best dac that Audio Alchemy ever made, far better than the DDEv3.0 or etc., and the best dac you'll find for under a grand.

While there is an original model DTI re-clocking unit attached to this dac, it has not been upgraded(really isn't upgradeable), and will only be useable if buyer acquires a DTI-compatible power supply unit for it. I personally regard it as useless, as the upgraded DITB dac is very insensitive to jitter, leaving the DTI useful only as a device to convert a toslink optical output to an RCA coax.

Auction is for the upgraded Ultra-DAC unit(DITB dac + DTI) & custom power supply unit ONLY(obviously including attached cable for connecting dac to power supply). No other items included.

Sold with my usual one year parts/labor warranty.

Sold to buyer with USA address only, unless buyer pays for fully insured postal express mail shipping.

Flat $20 fedex ground shipping to cont. USA.

Payment via paypal or cash on pickup(Tucson).