I just took a another look at your system, not bad!!! not bad at all!!! BTW how are you cabled?

glen October 18, 2003 16:36

Haven't heard of the III yet, don't think I want to here about it either:)

If your going to do an upgrade on your piece it will probably be cheaper to jump into a III, an it makes more sense.

I haven't seen many cards floating around these days but they do pop up here and at e-bay.

Your dealer can install them or maybe a local electronics repair shop? I don't think it's that hard, you may even be able to do it yourself?

Let me know if you do the III upgrade

I trust you'll be investing in a Dreadnaught or Dread-II at some point in time? And when it comes time to do the transport try the Carmen-II you won't be sorry.

glen October 18, 2003 16:26

Wdt,

I've been thinking, since your main concern is better stereo how about adding an outboard dac (Already mentioned above).

Even something as simple as a Classe Dac-1 may yield favorable results. I use to own one and though I prefered it when installed in front of some tube gear it still performed excellent with solid state.

This dac can be had for around $800.00 in the used market and will also decode HDCD (which I miss)

Now grant it the technology is getting a little old on the Classe dac-1 so you may not be as impressed compared to something more current (i.e.Mark Levinson 30.6 or Theta Pro gen VIII)

But if your not looking to lay out four to eight grand for a dac try the Classe or maybe a Theta pro-gen V-a with the HDCD upgrade if possible ($1400.00 used)

Just some food for thought since you seem to think your dacs are a weak link in your system and I tend to agree.

Also keep your eyes open for Superior dacs, there were lots for sale when the extreme dac was first released. I'm not sure if your Blanca will take an extreme dac but if it will maybe try to find one used.

glen October 18, 2003 02:29

Hi,

I use a Blanca-II with superior dacs and get great results. I look forward to upgrading to Extreme dacs one day as I have heard many rave reviews about them.

As you probably know Theta pioneered the Transport/Dac concept. I currently use a Carmen-II as my transport, In my opinion it offers the best bang for the buck out of all the Theta Transports and Progressive scan is standard on this player. In the past I've used their DaViD but after ploping down $500.00 to have a laser changed it was time to move on.

I'd recommend you upgrade to Blanca-II status and add at least one Superior dac card (These can be found in the used market cheep) before you throw in the towel on Theta. Also try to find a great Transport and a decent digital cable. I think you'll notice a big difference

glen October 10, 2003 02:37