Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
What a surprise. I moved up from a heavily modified Zero DAC coupled with a Darkvoice 337 pre/headphone amp which outputs into a pentode tube triple western electric transformer amp. Puts out about 10 watts cost me 5000. This dac's value is huge, even today. Bested my Zero easily and the tubes are a great compliment to my already extensively tubed system. Soundstage just blossoms, and everything is just liquid smooth. No more harsh digital extremes, everything seems as if it is being played through butter. Textural imaging is wonderful, it moves beyond just details and into instruments themselves. The listening here's the reverberation of the notes off the instruments as well as the actual notes. Amazing. All in all this is a wonderful buy, mine is the 96/24 version, and I would recommend it for a tube lover. What really holds the dac back are the original tubes, take the advice of the really long review and get some other tubes (Tungsram 12AX7)!! This bad boy will sing!!!!

magnawhite

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $450.00 from ebay

Summary:
I got this DAC from a local ebayer. For a 24/96 version, the price is pretty good. The original owner changed the tubes to military grade ones (Svetec ?). The reason I bought tis dac is to improve the harshness of my Pioneer T-07A and the haziness of Luxman D-105u. Both are good cd player in their own right but felt wanting. The Alpha 24/96 improves soundstage dramaticly. It adds depth and focus. Smooth out the edge but maintain the resolution. I was considering getting a Sony cdp-555esj but found this dac at the same cost. After reading trevious reviews, I decided to go for the dac. I also tested a used Musical Fidelity A324 DAC. It had more resolution but not musicality (at twice the price). Thank you all who post reviews here.

Strengths:
focus, depth, musicality.

Weaknesses:
The click sound when changing tracks.

Similar Products Used:
Lite dac-60
Musical Fidelity A324 DAC

Kenr

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Price Paid:  $415.00 from Audiogon

Summary:
I bought this DAC to use with my Squeezebox. My reference CD player is a 15 year old CAL Aria. I still enjoy listening to it especially compared to my denon DVD player. I hadn't heard the Alpha but based on the reviews here and my prior experience with the Aria I thought that the Alpha would be a great match for the Squeezebox. Surfice it to say the Alpha/Squeezebox is a huge improvement. This DAC has just the right amount of warmth to tame digital stored music. I will post more later after I have had more time to listen to the combo.

Similar Products Used:
CAL Aria

nurxhunter

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $420.00 from Agon

Summary:
Used in excellent condition these go for $375-$475. Add $200 for 24/96. The ratio of 18:24 models that come up for sale is around 1:4. VERY musical DAC. Mates VERY will with tube gear. Nice soundstage. A good value still today. The 24.96 unit is more transparant than 18 bit--but--not a huge difference. What will make a huge difference is NOS tubes. You are short-changing this DAC with generic tubes; you really are. An older Alpha will better the higher bit with the right tubes in it. In order of my preference (will depend of course on your other components in the chain and your taste). Prices for tubes are average at this writing (12/17/2005). Unless noted, I did not track exact variant within class. 1- Tungsram 12AX7 (70s issue, I think) for transparency AND balance. Some feel best 12AX7 ever made. Get the yellow-print, made in Hungary--not elsewhere. Rare. $70-100/pr NOS 2- Mullard CV4004 (Early 1980s issue)if you like warmth. Solid presentation and beat all others, until Tunssgram, above. Nice extension. A bit vieled and less lively compared to Tungsram or the 5751 below. The most balanced of the lot. Available. $100-$120/pr. NOS. 3- Raytheon 5751 3-mica blackplate--a great all arounder. Will sound great in any piece. Superb midrange, excellent bass. Rare. $100/pr NOS 4- GE 5751 3-mica (1950s), 50:50 with the Rays. Toss-up and depends on taste. A bit more lively. Available. $50-$100 NOS. 5- Sylvania 3-mica gray plate (1964 milspec). Nice vocals and mids, airy highs. Vary lively. Missing a bit of body, but a nice tube. Worthwhile $50 N-NOS. Telefunken 12AX7 (60s)smooth gray plates. Available. $40-$60 used. Well balanced. Nothing stands out across freq. curve. Would depend on other components. Good with bright SS electronics, I feel. These sound quite nice in my Sherwood 5000II. JJ Tesla ECC83S for current tube. Supeisingly good and cheap @ $10 each. Solid body, somewhat veiled, though--more so than Teles. GE JAN 5751 1980s. Quite available. $30/pr NOS. Entry-level 5751. Sovtek 12AX7LPS. Would be good with dark-sounding equipment. Foe example, in my Sherwood, the Rays are the best for feeding outputs and the Sovteks mate beautifully in tone positions--better than Mullards! So it all depends, sometimes. I have queued Amperex 12AX7 (Holland Med. Grade)and RCA 5751 3-M-B-1956. Debating whether I will buy Sylvania GB-5751 @ $120/pair. Trust me, tube roll with NOS. You'll hear the difference. Fun. Like wine tasting or gourmet cooking. All tubes used were either NOS or Near NOS. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/faq/joes-tubes.html#12AX7 Dr. Joe is more or less spot on. Pricing is outdated. Too bad DJ did not review the Tungsram 12AX7--it really sounds more like a NOS 3-mica, blackplate 5751 with respect to transparency and extension.

Strengths:
Musical DAC. You can customize/tune sound exactly to your liking with tube rolling. Mates well with tube gear. Responds to attention. Nice 4-input switching from front panal. Balanced digital in and out. Tubes run very cool and should last thousands of hours (10,000 or more, they say).

Weaknesses:
Generic tubes do not do it justice.

Similar Products Used:
MAny DACS. All tests done with: Cal Icon II or Delta Luminous Audio Axiom passive pre CJ MV52 amp Monitor Audio Silver 9i Medium-end, well reviewed cables all around.

bryndildaddy

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Price Paid:  $365.00 from eBay

Summary:
Having decided to finally close the curtain on my 16 year old Adcom's illustrious career, I jumped on the convergence bandwagon by purchasing an upper end Samsung DVD player to handle my CD listening needs. After the first few listening sessions it became apparent that an outboard DAC was in order (either that, or gouge my eyes out with dull butterknives). I picked up an obviously pre-24/96 Alpha from '93 on eBay (above price includes shipping), and connected it using low end Kimber product. Soundstage awesome, image adequate, timbre impeccable. Yet, the tonal balance was just way too bright, and the midrange at higher volume levels tended to splatter. The output from the Alpha seemed really high, as evidenced by my keeping the volume control on my ancient integrated in the lower 40, and the nearly overwhelming midrange. Apparently the preamp of my beloved Luxman was being overdriven. I decided to install fresh tubes as the first step in my dialing in process, and went with a pair of low output Ruby Tubes attained through Musicians Friend. OH MY GOODNESS! The soundstage now occupies the first half of my listening area, the image is dead on, and the inner detailing superb. I find myself saying "I didn't realize that she had an over bite", when listening to Portishead, or "They really need to tighten that snare down", when listening to Placebo. The tonal balance still isn't quite to my liking, but let the tweaking begin! As an aside, this unit will blow you away when reproducing naturally mic'd recordings. The sense of air, breath, and timbre is astonishing. Overly procressed (intensely busy) electronica, and hard rock\metal don't fair quite as well, seeming relatively thin and anemic. Ah well, life with tubes.

Strengths:
Soundstage huge and deep, image tight, phenomenally open sounding.

Weaknesses:
Wildly system\interconnect\source material dependant. Post 24/96 models still command top dollar - upgrade availability non-existant.

Similar Products Used:
none