Theta DigitalCasablanca III HDusedTheta Digital Casablanca III HD--ImmaculateThe best sounding pre/pro I have personally heard. The ONLY reason why I am selling it is because I moved to a 4a. I have had an Intrepid for a while and love it but had never heard a Casablanca ...3500.00

Theta Digital Casablanca III HD--Immaculate

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Condition
8/10
Payment methods
Ships fromRaleigh, NC, 27605
Ships toUnited States
Package dimensions24.0" × 21.0" × 16.0" (51.0 lbs.)
Shipping carrierFedEx
Shipping cost
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Original accessoriesRemote Control, Box, Manual
AverageResearch Pricing

The best sounding pre/pro I have personally heard.  The ONLY reason why I am selling it is because I moved to a 4a.  I have had an Intrepid for a while and love it but had never heard a Casablanca before getting this unit.  It made a believer out of me with respect to their preamp and DAC capabilities, just like the Intrepid did with respect to their amps.  The 3HD design was completely reworked from previous units, with a new Dave Reich power supply, for starters. You can read about it here:  https://www.thetadigital.com/casablancaiii/

The sound...  Oh the sound!  Just like their amps, it is extremely rich, detailed, grain-free, has incredible bass and imaging, etc.  I had a Cary Audio Cinema 12 (highly regarded and reviewed) before this, and this absolutely blows it away, even though its DACs are 24/96 vs the Cary's 32/192.  It's all about quality rather than numbers.  I have a lot of redbook CDs, and they sound fantastic through it.  It is incredibly organic/analog/real sounding.  Even though it "only" has the Premier card in it, I can tell you after moving to and hearing the Extreme 3 cards in my new unit that the differences are more subtle than it was moving to this unit from the Cary.  You are hearing probably 85-90% of the Extreme sound for a fraction of the price.  You can still add an Extreme 2 card if you want or upgrade the unit, but I never felt like I was yearning for "more" of anything.  In some ways, I actually think it sounds better than the 4a.  While the 4a has a little more detail/definition, I think this sounded slightly more organic and open, at least with CDs.  I have gone back and compared and stand by that assessment.  It also has more crossover options that the newer models do not (presumably because of Dirac).

For surround, it has the most clear and precise sound placement I have heard.  Sounds have depth and height.  The channels are configurable.  Even just as a preamp, it has a huge current capability that one can hear.  It seriously rocks yet can also be so subtle and delicate and sweet sounding.  It does all of the HD formats, short of Atmos.  You don't really need the new HDMI card in the newer units unless you have a projector and need to do a long main cable run in 4k (I think 1.4 still supports 4k, just with lower color and frequency).  If you have a local display, video switching is best done at it, anyways.  I only use the HDMI inputs for the HD audio.  You CAN upgrade the HDMI card to 4k support if you want to (the beauty of a fully configurable, card-based system).

I just replaced the whole front plate of it with a brand new factory plate and lens.  Only the logo side on the left was not replaced.  The chassis is immaculate.  The remote has a little wear to it, but you will probably use a programmable remote, anyways.  It is only rated an 8 because of the remote.  The unit is of course fully upgradable, too.  See the pricing from others on Casablancas.  This is a bargain, especially in terms of sound for the money. If you are looking at other high-end processors, you owe it to yourself to hear this. JBL Synthesis, Datasat, Trinnov, Anthem, Arcam, Bryston, Marantz, Mcintosh, etc.


See my feedback, and feel free to ask any questions.  Original double box, manual, and remote.  It's heavy.  Shipping costs are estimated; actual will be charged.  Please add 3% for PP.

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