Hi Gents,

After having read 90 odd pages of chit chat about this DAC I too jumped in and ordered the Bushmaster from Stanley myself. My initial worry about voltage issues in North America were allayed by MagicCarpetRides reply in this forum and a call to Stanley directly just to make doubly sure. It came very quickly to NYC to my suprise, others have mentioned the speed of delivery but it is truly astonishing. Mr. Beresford is actually a magician as his mystical powers work on both the transformation of digital input into glorious analogue signal for my tube amplifier and equally the transportation of parcels from the other side of the world.

Long story short, it arrived, I immediately plugged it in replacing a Music Hall 15.2 which managed to force feed my amplifier overly etched highs and a lifeless bottom end. My initial impressions were very promising as there was now BASS but the highs were still quite fatiguing after listening for 45 minutes or so which made me think of the need to burn in the DAC (yes...I read that thread too ). I fed it a constant diet of Pandora and my iTunes library turning the amp on every now and then to see if things had changed, though I would not call that critical listening it certainly seemed to be sounding better. Finally after 11 days or approximately 260 hours of constant burn in I sat down to critically listen.



My musical tastes are somewhat eclectic though it tends to be mostly contemporary jazz with electronica and classical thrown in for good measure. My reference CD's (in fact very slowly all of them) are being ripped to 24/96 FLAC files which I now had plugged in and ready to go. Sophie Milman was first up to bat, she started singing and every instrument was placed precisely on a sound-stage before me, the double bass was distinctly focused and not dissolving into the lush warm background of sound. Her voice was separate but not disconnected from the piano and other instruments, she was singing "There's Something in the Air Between Us".....it felt very intimate, I didn't want to mention Sophie to my wife....she wouldn't understand .

Next came James Taylor's "October Road"....amazing detail, wide enveloping sound-stage and the lower harmonics that made the hairs on my arm stand up. Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Melody Gardot, Keith Jarrett, Adele, YoYo Ma.... At this point I had cancelled my plans for the rest of the day and I had a single malt in hand....it helps me listen better...


I'm pretty sure you've heard it all before but I was always taught to give credit
where credit is due. Mr Beresford, I think to the naysayers that equate price to quality you should repackage the Bushmaster in a solid Titanium/aluminum/stainless-steel CNC'd block. Charge them several grand for the privilege of owning your product and add another 50% on top of the price for burning in.



Ooopps....sorry, I'm waffling, So let me say in conclusion before I get banned for waffling. An amazing product that if the new owners listen to the far wiser members on this forum, who have gone through the process of learning how to get the best from it, will be happy with a superior product for a nominal outlay.

My scotch has run out...the sun is coming up and in NY and I must go to sleep. I shall not write anything so long again in the future.

Harsha