Manufacture Link:
http://www.mavaudio.com/base/product/tube_magic_d1/
Price Paid: $199 + $20 upgraded tube. Free Ship. *Presale price*
Current Setup:
Yamaha DV-S5860 SACD/DVD-A/DVD Player
Onix SP3 Integrated Tube Amplifier
Maverick Audio Tube Magic D1 DAC/Preamp
AV123 X-Omni Diamond Black Speakers
First thing I want to say about Maverick Audio before I start my review is that the Ryan, the owner, is great to work with and is excellent in responding to emails and maintaining communication. On top of the friendly service, shipping was fast and easy from Shanghai, China to San Francisco, CA via DHL. Shipped out Monday and got here Friday! How is that for speedy international shipping?
Packing and Initial Inspection
This thing is a ton heavier than I expected. Smooth, brushed black aluminum and very nice knobs for the volume and source selection. Still smells like it was recently assembled. Upon further inspection everything looks absolutely gorgeous from the delicate white lettering of the logo right down to the screws used to assemble the casing. I opened her up to take a peak at the internals and everything is as it should be. Here is a quick pic of the internals I've stolen from Head-fi.
I had the tube upgraded to NOS GE 5670W from the stock chinese tube for $20 more ontop of the presale price.
The packaging was excellent. Shipped in a very sturdy box with foam protecting the unit from moving and covered in a plastic sleeve. The contents also included a USB cable, auxiliary cord, power cord, 1/8" to 1/4" headphone jack converter, and a quick start guide.
Initial Impressions
Setup was a breeze. Plug your sources in, select source, done! You have two options for the analog out. One tube out and solid state out depending on what flavor of sound you wanted for your music. I opted for the tube out to start with since I love the tube sound so much.
Norah Jones - Come Away With Me
WOW! Quite the difference from using my cd players dac with this one. Clarity is a notch or two higher as well as the 'sound stage', giving me a more entertaining listening experience. It definitely feels warmer but not quite the impact I was expecting however after reading some other user experiences with this there is a burn in period that must be done before 'optimal audio nirvana is attained' whatever that means. A very (very) quick A/B vs the Yamaha's DAC there was obvious greater detail and separation improvement with the Maverick.
Overall I'm very pleased with my purchase. More impressions to come as well as the solid state out impressions. Stay tuned!
