Will an external DAC be useful in my case?

Going your route to just elimintate the internal DACs in the Onkyo won't yield much. An alternate way would be to use a preamp for dedicated 2 channel duty. A DAC/preamp (by TADAC) would best serve you and skip the Onkyo (just use it for home theater). Put the DAC between the receiver and Emo amp, then feed your CD player's digital signal to the DAC/preamp and play 2 shannel music through it. Put the DAC/preamp in home theater bypass mode and use the Onkyo for home theater, etc. This is similar to the Emo analog preamp setup, but with a DAC included.

I agree this approach is better than using the receiver's DACs. I have no experience with the TADAC, but based on the hype here it should be easy to sell if you don't like it. Another option is my preference, a used Benchmark DAC-1 ($600 at Audiogon) and your choice of analog preamps (used) at Audiogon, such as a Bel Canto Pre2, Parasound P3, McCormack RLD1. But I must say that your speakers are not nearly good enough to warrant spending that kind of upgrade money, IMHO. I would replace them with Ascend Acoustics if you are on a budget, or Digital Phase if you can afford more.

Trash in = trash out, regardless of speakers. BUT, I totally agree with dsmith - you'd be much better off spending more on speakers than an external DAC. Go listen to local speaker stores and see what appeals to you. Also, there are some good online only manufacturer/sellers. Audiogon is another great place to shop for some good deals. Beyond the speakers, then other items in the line will help too, but only you will be able to discern if it's an audible improvement. Don't get caught up too much in forum talk. That's all it is - talk, until you can hear and experience it for yourself.

A little late to the thread, but I just wanted to add my agreement to what has been said so far. It is doubtful that an outboard DAC of any cost or excellence would make a noticeable difference to your current system.

The BB DAC's in your Onkyo are very good and any gain from that point from ‘improved’ DAC’s would be lost at the speakers. The recommendation for Ascend's is a good one (I’m partial to their attributes). And I think you would hear a marked improvement over your current Polks.

I am not familiar with the Polk SLi25’s (and have not noticed much written about them on the forums) but they would have to be very good to compete with the Ascend 170’s which I feel are the best bang for the buck.

Good luck.

shane

I understand your question, but I can't give you an answer as I don't know the LSi25's.

http://ascendacoustics.com/pages/pro...70/cbm170.html

http://ascendacoustics.com/pages/pro...bm170meas.html

That should give you an understanding of the Ascends and how they test.

Being that they have a 30 day, no questions asked return policy, it might be worth it to you to invest a few bucks in the shipping costs and give them a whirl.

And... if you feel afterwards that you've wasted your money and that your Polks are better (or the same), you've at least answered a very fundamental question. But I still think you won't get much of a difference from an Outboad DAC (and yes I own one).

One question I have is:
What kind of files are on the Sonos? Are they mp3's or wav or flac? Because... I'm sure you know that the type of source file can make a huge difference as well.

shane

They aren't—not even close. I can't explain why people are pushing a modest bookshelf speaker as an alternative to what you've got, except to say that on the Internet you can find somebody to push anything.

Right now you've got speakers you like, and plenty of power to drive them. As far as the requirements of 2-channel listening go, that's it. Your next step is room treatments, not new components.

Great specs on those! Thanks for sending the link.
In this case I'm not sure Ascends would be an 'upgrade'.

So, back to your original question... would an outboard DAC help? Maybe, but not much with the more compressed mp3's. But it might on some of the other files.

Benchmark has a 30 day return policy too. Give it a try. I really like my DAC1 PRE, and I have it hooked up to one of my computers.

See if it makes a difference.

Good luck.

Nothing much. I know we sound like a broken record sometimes, but:

Speakers-Room

Speakers-Room

Speakers-Room

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.
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You may not have received posts you were hoping for but you got pretty good ones. Digital-Analog conversion is not voodoo. Accurate algorithms have been know for some time and are readily available, including your AVR. Read the post below the one of yours I quoted, it's all you need to know.

I don't think there is an audible difference between modern DAC chips. Others will claim that it's not the DAC chip itself, but the analog section of separate DAC's that make them better. Of course this completely ignores the fact that no matter how good the analog section of the DAC is, it will still go through the analog section in the receiver or preamp. I don't see how feeding the signal through two analog circuits can be better than one.

And if you use a sub, or any type of room correction in the reciever, it will convert the analog from the DAC back to digital anyways, and it will still go through the DAC in the receiver.

i think you may notice a small change but it may or may not be better weit the dac

the polk lsi25s are fantastic. i loved their sound--ring radiator tweeters in those babies. i agree with mcnarus here. i think they compare favorably with sonus sperakers of higher msrp. just my ho.

Let me first say I find it amusing reading posts from some of the "experienced audiophiles" here on AVS. This hobby is all about experimentation, learning and evolving in your ability to hear and appreciate each new level of refinement. I remember my first system I bought back in high school: Advent Heritage speakers, Yamaha Dolby Pro Logic receiver, and an 18" Kicker subwoofer housed in my own hand-built enclosure powered by a Carver amp. I loved that system for many years, even though I was encouraged by well intentioned people to buy similarly priced entry level audiophile speakers, which I auditioned and didn't think even compared to my system....OK, so enough of the rambling.

In terms of electronics (if/when you decide to upgrade), my suggestion is the DAC is the LAST place to start. Amp and preamp both play comparably important roles in sound quality. I might even argue that the preamp is more important. I have the Onkyo PR-SC885 Pre/Pro for my home theater system and do the following for my 2-channel system. I connect the pre-outs of the Onkyo to the pre-ins of my 2-channel preamp, which then outputs to my amp. When doing 2-channel listening, I turn the volume on the Onkyo up to 0.0dB which I believe corresponds to unity gain after the Onkyo's internal DAC's have converted the digital inputs (very loud if connected to the amp directly). What my 2-channel pre does that my Onkyo does not do is preserve detail, texture and dynamics at low listening levels. This makes such a big difference when listening at normal volume levels, once you've heard it you won't want to go back. Anyway, enjoy each phase of this hobby and best of luck!

So does a math teacher, all the time 2+2=; 3*3=

Just got back from CEDIA and saw/heard this amazing external DAC from MyDac MSRP $399.00 .
The demo with headphoes and balanced audio selector compares the $5000.00 Wadia DAC , $1500.00 Belcanto and the MyDac .
I found that the Wadia sounded the best but the MyDac was as good as the Belcanto and for $399.00 it was truly a bargain.
Here is the information -

http://www.micromega-hifi.com/

As for speakers - room try a pair of headphones
Edited by REWJR - 9/17/12 at 2:23pm

That's an odd thread bump, but what happened in here three years ago? I can't believe how dismissive everyone was of the LSi25s...

Yes, Robert Harley, THE ABSOLUTE SOUND, refers to the $399 Micromega MyDAC as being a future llegend, worthy of costing $2000.00. A full review will appear in the December 2012 issue of TAS.

I also experenced an improvement in 2 channel sound by replacing my OPPO 93 with the ONKYO C-S5VL SACD CD player. It contains a high grade WOLFSON 192 kHz/24-Bit D/A Converter (WM8742) Amazon has recently lowered its price, making it a tremendous bargain

I plan to purchase the $399 Micromega MyDAC (made in France, not China) when it becomes available. Can't wait to read Harley's review in the DEC TAS issue. Harley refers to it as a "miracle."

Robert Harley is a total clown.

That's much nicer than what I was going to say.

Anyway alkemac, keep winding up that expectation bias.

I'm sure that the very many clowns who are serious about entertaining people either for free or for nominal remuneration will take exception to this characterization.

The worst thing I can say is that Harley is a very fastidious person. He is very fastidious about keeping his web site free of posts that might make people question his various pronouncements.