Depth ,detail, air,smoothness ,great soundstage a slight tube warmth that gets it just right in sounding natural.

None ,in its list price range and beyond!

I have the Alpha dac and Delta transport totally triple isolated as well as have sand bags on top.I have a current reference interconnect (list $700. bought used $225.)As there are different preferences ,there are some of us who favor the Yugo tubes.I have bought and sold many used and demo components to get my system to its outstanding sound level and as well as painstaking speaker placement and room treatment.Throw in a PS audio PP 300 that is also well isolated and upgraded power cords and the synergy really starts to kick in.It is hard to believe that the Cal 24/96 upgrade will take this up another level.I better do it soon while it still is available.BTW,I picked up the combo 15 months ago for $800.Best dam deal in separates !

Similar Products Used:

Cal DX-2 Rega Planet, Adcom GCD-750,Sony SCD-777ES

Very relaxed, un-fatiguing sounding. Life-like, sweet on good CD's such as Mapleshades, Julian Bream's guitar.

I have to run it with the top off to get the best sound.

Thanks to the gentleman who gave the tip of listening to the DAC with its top off. There're tons of difference before and after I did just that. I'm glad I didn't sell it, as now I know I can't get that sound, no, music that good for less than 1K.

I thought I was forever settled with Home Theater, but after pulling out the DAC Alpha from the closet and running PAD CD Enhancer for few hours, my listening priority changed all together. The Illuminati digital cable, Jolida JD-502B amp, DH Lab speaker cable and MMG speakers helped make for a much better sounding system. I am using the RAM tubes and MIDAS tube enhancer with great results. Diana Krall and Holy Cole are now singing in my family room.

I can't wait to receive the second pair of Mapleshades' Clearview Ultrathin (and ultra low cost) interconnects and put them between the DAC Alpha and the AVR-5700 (as a preamp). Perhaps I will go for the 24/96 upgrade.

Similar Products Used:

Audio Alchemy DDE, Monarchy Audio

Great Sound Stage, Base and smooth top end. 24/96K unit!

None for its design.

This is the 24/96 unit using special ulta low noise 5751 tubes. Bought it from someone and had the 24 96 upgrade done. Alo replaced the stock tubes with pearl cryovac ultra low noise tubes. Tried other 5751 tubes but the ones treated to -350 degrees sound the best. Added tube dampers and vibrapods as permanent additions.

The Cryovac tubes also come in a gold version which I am about to try. Expensive at 185.00 for the set. Any way all CD's sound better as well as DVD's and DAD,s. Am using a CL-10 as a CD transport and a pioneer industrial DVD 7400 as the DVD unit.

For the money this is tops. I have not heard 5000. or 7000.00 DAC's yet but Im' sure there better. But for a total of $1200 invested in this piece of gear im real happy.

Similar Products Used:

CL-10

I love this DAC. Detail is impressive without sounding digital/processed.
There are 4 different inputs (balanced, coaxial, toslink, and optic), such that I've got a 5 disk changer (NAD 515) connected via coaxial (for the wife and while entertaining) and the balanced connected to a CAL delta transport. The surprising thing is how good the 5 disk changer sounds, and I would strongly encourage people to audition the combination of a solid multidisk CD player with a digital output fed into the alpha against high end multi changers that cost more, probably don't sound as good, and don't offer the flexibility of adding a separate single transport which will definitely sound better. Consider too that used alphas can be purchased for as low as $500 or $600 (I bought my alpha, delta, and a run of Kimber ADGL balanced interconnect for just under a thousand used).

5 stars without a doubt.

Associated euipment: B&W DM-14 and ASW 2000, Golden Tube SI-50 Mk II, Rega Planar 25, McCormack phono line stage, variety of Kimber, MIT, and Augioquest cables.

Very magical and fluid sounding D-to-A converter that sounds better than SACD

Hard to tell if the tubes were old (mine were). Once I replaced them I had much lower and tighter bass

I moved up from a CAL Icon II cd player to a Pioneer DVD-333 ($200) and a CAL Alpha D-to-A with the 24/96 option ($1200). I was comparing it against some other high end DVD players at the SoundLab (CAL DVD players) and a Sony 9000ES I had brought home.

The Sony had increadable detail and stunning bass - but no soul. The CAL Alpha, with its tubes, had SOUL. It makes my music AND movies sound so good it is scairy.

Two particular mieces of music from two movies stand out: the first was the pie scean from Americal Pie. There is this jazzy background music that was so likelike through the Alpha I was mesmerized that this was a movie!

The second was from Finding Forrester - the background music (many times jazz) was so good it was frightening!

Tool, Led Zeppelin, Depech Mode, jazz, classical, EVERYTHING sounds magical throught the Alpha!

I picked up my base unit used, and had the 24/96 upgrade done for free through the SoundLab. Later, I realized the tubes might be old so I picked up some Groove Tubes from Guitar Center. What I got was a little more detail and a LOT more bass - but NOT boomy bass but better articulated bass that was right on for the music!

I had thought the Icon was going to be hard to topple - the Alpha is just more, a lot more of the same!

Similar Products Used:

I also auditioned the Sony 9000ES SACD/DVD player (MSRP $1500)

The DAC just come into my home without any high quality CD transporter and my CD player has being fixed for months. So, only my very close old friend, Marantz LV-300; a cheap LD player with Toslink digital output provided which are normally connected to Audio Alchemy DAC-MAN, a boomer. It's now has to be my very CD transporter.! Another components are 1. NAD 3400, 100 Watt X 2 monitor series stereo integrated amplifier.
2. Zell3, 20 Watt X 2 dual mono valve integrated amplifier.
3. 3a Reference Audio Design M2 generation II, 7 inch. 2 ways floor speaker.
4. Magnet LC-1, AC line conditioner.
5. Discovery cable, twine type.
6. Eagle speaker cable.
7. Oh No...!! Audio Alchemy Toslink digital connector. It's just okay man? because I uses tube amplifier mainly and Alpha is also tube, this not so pain connection.!
First attraction is the transparent and fine detail of each notes, good vibra jazz at pawn shop II. It provides good hamonic of the musical instrument. Sound stage is wide and bounded, not fly out of space. Vocal is clear, lively and fairly ; Ayako, Arron and Linda. Bass from the system is too big, booming and look clumsy when equipped with DAC-MAN but those were blown out after changed to Alpha. Bass is clear detail and fit, especially upper bass has good power and dynamic and also with deep bass that remain only a question for your speaker "How deep you can punch me?".
It's not intend to mainly provide such kind of sweet or lovely sound but it delivers such kind of precision. For one who has mid-end or even high-end looking for some fine DAC, this's one should be trialed.

Let's trial it..!
:)rong

I have played around with the Alpha and like it quite a bit. The sound depends highly upon the tubes in it. The Chinese 12AX7s it comes with are, I believe much better that even the Mullards and Yugos, contrary to DO's review in Sterephile in 1994. What I find is the unit does not like its top on it. It clearly sounds best with the CAL Audio Chinese 12AX7s in it and the top off. I surmise that heat build up and the lack of louvers/slots/holes for ventilation in the top accounts for my observation. The sound with the top on and after a long playing period develops a bit of hardness in the upper midrange that totally disappears with the top removed. I am going to take mine to a machine shop an have slots for ventilation put in over the top of at least the DAC can and the tubes, or maybe, I'll just drill some 1/2" holes in it and give it to one of my children later instead of trying to resell it. The sound as DO said is clearly in league with the higher priced spreads ($2200 to $3900, depending on the comparison unit). Bass extension is good and reasonably tight, excellent resolution, great detail and dynamics, a tube like mid range, and a clean airy reasonably extended top. The dynamics prevent it from being too smooth like too many high end DACs these days, and more like the sound of the real thing. I have it in a rig in a back bedroom set up for off axis listening and reading, so I cannot really comment on soundstage as such, but do sense depth depends on the CD. A lot of bang per buck. Objectively against real music, a conservative 3; subjectively, as things go, a 3.8 with the top on; and a 4.4 with the top off and with the Illuninati d-60 digital interconnect fully broken in.

The lineup so far:CAL Icon MK II (as a transport)
CAL Alpha DAC
Adcom 555 X2 in bridged mode
Adcom 555 preamp
Kimber 4TC to the HF
Kimber 8TC to the LF
Kef 104/2 speakers
Audioquest topaz interconnects.
Velodyne 1012x subwoofer

Without the Alpha, this setup sounded oh so nice. With the DAC, the sound got sweeter, smoother and more refined. I am so pleased with the alpha. I got it used for under $500 and it is so worth it. The only thing I've left to do is await the arrival of Y plugs to bi-amp the system. Maybe some day I will upgrade all around, but to do so would cost me $$$$. I do believe I am at the jumping off point of mid-fi components. I mean there's always Krell, Levinson, etc. but then what would I dream about?? This DAC really helps my Kefs perform the way I recall them performing back in the early 90's in the audio store. Way to go CAL!!

Here's the story, I traded in a Cambrigde Audio CD-6 and got myself a Denon dvd-3000. As soon as the first notes came out I knew that the trade had not been succesful sound wise (It's a wonderful DVD player for films). Last week, I came across the CAL ALPHA DAC and had the chance to bring it home for listening. Talk about .....smoothness, resolution, depth great midrange etc etc I'm out of words. Since that time, I was able to compare it the AudioAlchimy DAC ITB, no contest, ORELLE dac, better but no depth. So far nothing that I heard could touch the Alpha. I'm getting it for approx $600 US with a fairly good optical cable and TX. 5 stars for me. If you do get across one or the new 96Khz get it you wont be dissapointed.

I was using a delta with an old Audio Alchemy DAC-In-The-Box. The sound was good with big soundstage and crisp, clean presentation. Finally, I was able to grab a used Alpha for just under $400, and the sound is way more believable now. Using delta as the transport, this alpha really came alive. The sound has a solid three-dimensionality with a good depth and bloom. Strings sound so smooth, and tympanies and drums actually have the rumbles after the sharp impact. Voices.....! I can now hear minute changes in nuance and expression. In short, the Alpha gave a tangible body and flow to the music. I couldn't help smiling when I listened to one CD after another.

I never thought an 18bit DAC could sound this good. It easily blew away Rotel 971, Rega planet, CAL's Icon MkII Power Boss, and even CL-15 which all have 20bit resolution. I wonder what this baby can do with now available 24/96k upgrade from CAL. If you find one on the internet, just grab it.

My rig consists of:
CAL Delta transport, CAL Alpha DAC, Audio innovations tube preamp, Golden Tube Audio SE-40, B&W DM601, Cardas interconnects throughout except double runs of Nordost flatline speaker cables for biwiring.