Theta Pro Prime IIA DAC on the way!!!

[zombie boy 2000]

Months of DAC searching are finally over and it looks like I'll be getting a Theta Pro Prime IIA. Man, oh man am I stoked. I'm hoping to God it plays nice with the other children. Anybody have any experience with this model, or Theta DAC's in general? I noticed madmax has a Theta transport...

[Lsi9]

Congrats!
Post a pic of it
Out of curiosity, whats the price?

[heiney9]

Oh man, be prepared to be blown away. Seperate dac's are where it's at.;)

[wingnut4772]

I have heard nothing but good things about Theta. Congrats.

[zombie boy 2000]

Some pics....

And a stupid question....

The button on the right is a phase button which switches the unit from either "in phase" or "inverted". I understand this function as it applies to a subwoofer, but have never seen it on a component. What exactly is its purpose?

[steveinaz]

Some components maintain "absolute polarity" and some don't. My guess is that the vast majority of CDP's would be non-inverting, so you would select "in phase."

[zombie boy 2000]

Thanks for chiming in Steve:)

So what exactly do you mean by "absolute polarity"?

[Ricardo]

There are preamps that invert the phase (positive signal to the black post, negative signal to the red post); if you had one of these, you'd probably want to use "inverted", though from what I understand there's really no difference in sound, as long as the "absolute" polarity is right (both speakers in phase, or both speakers with inverted phase"

Anyway, I guess that this does not matter anymore given your Fisher Price new toy....

[zombie boy 2000]

How many times do I have to tell you Ricardo... it's not a "toy". It's an astoundingly sophisticated exercise in high fidelity:D Earing a A+ rating in Sesame Street Quarterly. I think the monkey button is a load of snake-oil, but other than that, it's music to my ears.

Thanks for clearing up the notion of "absolute polarity". I can see that in my 30 minutes of research, its a topic of much debate. As in, who can hear it and who can't. Why would someone design a preamp to invert the signal? Are amps known to do this as well? The only reason I ask is that the color of the posts on my Monarchy have always been reversed from all other components....

[Ricardo]

My AES preamp inverts the signal in the circuit; don't know why, but it's related to the type of circuit used. Some preamps get the signal back in phase, but it means additional components in the signal path. The instructions of the AES say that you need to connect red/black between the speakers and the amp. I do this on the CArver AL-III's, but don't on the SDA's (common ground requirement). Everything sounds great.

[Zero]

Interesting choice to say the least. Hope it works for ya guy.

[zombie boy 2000]

I take it you're not a fan Sean:D

[zombie boy 2000]

Just thought I'd provide a quick take on this piece though it has already been replaced (more on that in a bit)...

Quite simply, this DAC is a stellar piece which worked perfectly within my system. I really wasn't expecting much to be honest. What I did get was a bit more than subtle. The top-end was smoothed out considerably. The soundstage became a bit wider. The separation between instruments entered the sublime. Point blank, everything became a bit more involving -- which really wasn't an issue to begin with. Supposedly this model is renowned for it's tight, controlled bass, but as my system already excels in this area, I didn't really take note of any improvement.

No A/B comparos necessary... the differences were immediate and especially obvious when the DAC was removed.

Why? I needed funds for a Pro-ject Debut and Phono Box. However, I do have a Lite Audio DAC-Ah (modded by Pacific Valve) en route, so my DAC journey continues...

I really miss this piece.

[heiney9]

Just thought I'd provide a quick take on this piece though it has already been replaced (more on that in a bit)...

Quite simply, this DAC is a stellar piece which worked perfectly within my system. I really wasn't expecting much to be honest. What I did get was a bit more than subtle. The top-end was smoothed out considerably. The soundstage became a bit wider. The separation between instruments entered the sublime. Point blank, everything became a bit more involving -- which really wasn't an issue to begin with. Supposedly this model is renowned for it's tight, controlled bass, but as my system already excels in this area, I didn't really take note of any improvement.

No A/B comparos necessary... the differences were immediate and especially obvious when the DAC was removed.

Why? I needed funds for a Pro-ject Debut and Phono Box. However, I do have a Lite Audio DAC-Ah (modded by Pacific Valve) en route, so my DAC journey continues...

I really miss this piece.


It takes a big man to let go of what sounds like a perfect fitting nirvana piece. Hopefully the unit en route will give the same level of satisfaction.

[Early B.]

Damn, Zombie, how long did you keep it -- 15 minutes???

I ain't mad at ya 'cause I've done that a few times.

BTW -- let us know about the Lite Audio DAC-Ah. Try to hold onto this one for a least a week, please.

[zombie boy 2000]

Oh... it's funding another piece H9, so I wouldn't call me a "big man" so much as a "betting man":D

I really, really, really am a firm believer in a quality external DAC now. I just couldn't pass up a chance to get my foot into the door of Vinyl. Hopefully, cross my fingers and toss some salt, the Lite Audio will provide just a portion of the Theta's performance.

[zombie boy 2000]

Damn, Zombie, how long did you keep it -- 15 minutes???

I ain't mad at ya 'cause I've done that a few times.

BTW -- let us know about the Lite Audio DAC-Ah. Try to hold onto this one for a least a week, please.

It would have stayed longer. Trust me. I had no intention of letting it go upon hearing it. I just couldn't turn down the opportunity to pick up a Debut, esp. coupled with the opportunity to try another DAC.

I won't lie though. I'll flip gear without hesitation. I'll always enjoy the music, but the prospect of hearing different interpretations of it is what makes this hobby so much fun.

Besides EB, I recall a certain tube buffer which never even left the box:D