Theta Pro ProGeny a Dac

[icehockeyboy]

It is with a heavy heart that I am doing an interest check on this, a legendary Theta Pro ProGeny A dac.

I am sure no one needs me to extol it's qualities and battle ship pro build, not to mention it's SQ.

It also comes complete with the optional TLC anti jitter device, and it's own after market power supply, (Titan/Goliath?) which retailed at around £400 on their own, making the total in the region of £1700.

I am told that the "A" marking meant that it was a superior dac to the Progenys that did not have it.

All units in vgc, and as far as I can recall (should be in the loft!) original boxes.

Looking for £400 or near offer, postage for a tenner, or if my wanted price is realised, I will post free of charge.
http://www.audioreview.com/channels/audioreview/images/products/product_124916.jpg

This is a high end dac, at a budget price! Just remembered this, I was told by a dealer, not where I bought the dac from by the way, that adding the TLC and Goliath to the dac, steps up the quality to the next one up the range, and so on etc.....

Fwiw, there's a cheaper (sub £1000) Theta Chroma dac on e bay @ £475, minus the Titan & TLC!
Makes mine a veritable bargain!

[icehockeyboy]

Now definitely for sale :(

And an all important price drop to £395 to make it psychologically seem lots less than what I first had it up for! :eyebrows:

[icehockeyboy]

Page 3 bump! :)

[Effem]

Bargain.

Will see off this latest crop of filterless NOS toys any day without even trying. This too was built back in the days when an audio output stage had design and quality built into it. Shame my spare cash just vanished into a new bathroom suite :(

[icehockeyboy]

Bargain.

Will see off this latest crop of filterless NOS toys any day without even trying. This too was built back in the days when an audio output stage had design and quality built into it. Shame my spare cash just vanished into a new bathroom suite :(

Thanks for the comment Frank! :)

[icehockeyboy]

PRICE REDUCTION!

Now reduced to £385! Possibly inclusive of postage depending on how near the asking price is achieved :)

I honestly can't understand how come this fabulous piece of hi end kit hasn't been snapped up by now! ;)

[icehockeyboy]

Reduced to £350 inc postage!

[icehockeyboy]

Come on guys, someone here must be wanting a hi end dac of the utmost quality at a price FAR less than the cheaper (and without the extras) Chroma on flea bay for £475!

As Frank said....well...rather than me repeat, just go up a bit and read his comment!

A CHEAP £350 inc postage....don't forget this is £1700 worth all in!

[Yomanze]

PM Sent.

[icehockeyboy]

PM Sent.

Reply sent :)

[icehockeyboy]

Sold subject to funds arriving! :)

[Yomanze]

Hope it's a welcome upgrade to my Beresford, which has been a great little DAC for years in my system.

[icehockeyboy]

Hope it's a welcome upgrade to my Beresford, which has been a great little DAC for years in my system.
That is exactly what I had and certainly ( as explained more fully in the pm) bringing in the Theta was an improvement, so it should be bearing in mind that the standard 7520 was about £100, and the Theta with bits 17 times more!

[icehockeyboy]

Funds received so a definite sale! Thanks to Yomanze.:)

[Reid Malenfant]

Hope it's a welcome upgrade to my Beresford, which has been a great little DAC for years in my system.
It should be :) I have a similarly aged Monarchy Audio 22B DAC & while it's a whole lot older than the Beresford it still showed the Caiman a clean pair of heels :D

Theta & Monarchy are both American companies that know what they are doing, I'm sure the Theta will have a fully discrete class A output stage like my Monarchy does, so it'll have a vastly superior output stage than any op-amp.

Have fun, I reckon you will :eyebrows:

[icehockeyboy]

It should be :) I have a similarly aged Monarchy Audio 22B DAC & while it's a whole lot older than the Beresford it still showed the Caiman a clean pair of heels :D

Theta & Monarchy are both American companies that know what they are doing, I'm sure the Theta will have a fully discrete class A output stage like my Monarchy does, so it'll have a vastly superior output stage than any op-amp.

Have fun, I reckon you will :eyebrows:

Thanks Mark!

Not only that it outweighs the Beresford by a million to one! :lol:

[Reid Malenfant]

Ah yes, well while the build isn't too likely to effect the performance, as you point out Craig the build is so much better :)

A bit like comparing a Rolls Royce to a Ford Fiesta :eyebrows:

[icehockeyboy]

Ah yes, well while the build isn't too likely to effect the performance, as you point out Craig the build is so much better :)

A bit like comparing a Rolls Royce to a Ford Fiesta :eyebrows:

Not to mention the size of the box it comes in! Makes Stan's letter box friendly box seem miniscule by comparison.

Anyway, that's enough of me being silly!

Back to being a grown up now.....if I can remember how! :lol:

[Yomanze]

It should be :) I have a similarly aged Monarchy Audio 22B DAC & while it's a whole lot older than the Beresford it still showed the Caiman a clean pair of heels :D

Theta & Monarchy are both American companies that know what they are doing, I'm sure the Theta will have a fully discrete class A output stage like my Monarchy does, so it'll have a vastly superior output stage than any op-amp.

Have fun, I reckon you will :eyebrows:

Theta used opamps on many if not most of their DACs by preference rather than necessity. Like anything it's how you use them rather than what they are made of!

Hopefully it'll arrive tomorrow & Craig has been a gent with getting things sorted quickly & keeping me updated. Must admit that the TLC seems like a dubious device, so will leave that boxed up for a while before I have a go! If it's good then I'll get 2x bnc sockets & isolate the output ground based on advice online.

At it's age I'll be recapping it starting with the power supply caps & definitely replace the big tantalums, but it just wouldn't feel right to "mod" this sort of DAC eh?

[Yomanze]

Not to mention the size of the box it comes in! Makes Stan's letter box friendly box seem miniscule by comparison.

Anyway, that's enough of me being silly!

Back to being a grown up now.....if I can remember how! :lol:

At least it's not empty like some other brands' stuff I've seen:

http://www.audioccasioni.com/FOTO%20LETTORI%20CD/PROGENY%20008.jpg

[Reid Malenfant]

Theta used opamps on many if not most of their DACs by preference rather than necessity. Like anything it's how you use them rather than what they are made of!

Hopefully it'll arrive tomorrow & Craig has been a gent with getting things sorted quickly & keeping me updated. Must admit that the TLC seems like a dubious device, so will leave that boxed up for a while before I have a go! If it's good then I'll get 2x bnc sockets & isolate the output ground based on advice online.

At it's age I'll be recapping it starting with the power supply caps, but it just wouldn't feel right to "mod" this sort of DAC eh?
Well you do surprise me about the op-amps :eyebrows:

As for the TLC, if it's anything like the Monarchy DIP24/96 then I think you may find it's a no brainer. It made a serious difference right the way through the audio spectrum, not just mid & treble timing, but bass was also improved. It's a different bit of kit though so who knows...

I'm sure things could be improved, though as you point out there may be less to improve upon than more modern & cheaper kit!

Have fun :D

[icehockeyboy]

At least it's not empty like some other brands' stuff I've seen:

http://www.audioccasioni.com/FOTO%20LETTORI%20CD/PROGENY%20008.jpg

Do I assume the pic is of the one I sold you, and it arrived safely? :)

[Yomanze]

Just got back from a stag do with no internet access, so now's the first proper session I've got on the HiFi. Will report back when I've had some time!

Cheers to Craig for getting everything sorted so quickly & keeping me updated each day, so he's 'legit' as the skate forums would say!

[Yomanze]

Jesus Christ I was expecting a subtle but decent improvement, but no, LOADS more separation between instruments, more 'bits between the bits' and massive increases in detail without the digital glare that today's DACs always seem to have. I can actually hear guitars getting strummed and plucked rather than just hearing them play. The bass is so textured & the bottom end has definitely filled out and fully detached themselves from the speakers. Extremely happy with this impulse buy, so thanks again to Craig.