E-mail I got from Wild West Electronics.

Thank you for contacting us. The price on the unit is $369.00 in black or silver. We just had a meeting with Cambridge Audio and we are expecting the units in Oct. The projected date in the 25th but it might be sooner depending on customs. We will be updating our site for pre-orders on these units (hopefully today). The orders will be handled first come first out. If you have any additional questions please let me know.

Sincerely,

Wild West Customer Service

I bought some items from Wild West Electronics for the radio station where I work. It was a number of years ago, but I am recalling they had very good service.

Seems to be the place to go for Cambridge Audio.

I tried to help and steer you towards Tkam's, did you miss that one?

Yes I blew that one.

Yes I blew that one.

I'm sure you could have secured it by offering money alone. A for effort, though.

Yes I blew that one.

Next time I'll PM you, I honestly thought you had to have seen it when you mentioned you were looking for one. I mean the odds were just outrageous... Sorry Vincent.

Next time I'll PM you, I honestly thought you had to have seen it when you mentioned you were looking for one. I mean the odds were just outrageous... Sorry Vincent.

Yeah, I saw it. Just didn't pull the trigger. Stupid mortgage payments and such.

Is there much of a difference between the North Star mk1 and mk2?

Yeah, there is. Look for Todd's thread from when he first got it.

Yeah, I saw it. Just didn't pull the trigger. Stupid mortgage payments and such.

Is there much of a difference between the North Star mk1 and mk2?

MK1- discrete output stage, D/A converter is CS4396

MK1- discrete output stage, D/A converter is CS4396

Sorry deepak, help me out. Does that mean the MK1 is better/worse/different? I'm wondering because it looks like there are some deals out there on the MK1, but I'm not interested if it pales significantly compared to the Mk2.

Sorry deepak, help me out. Does that mean the MK1 is better/worse/different? I'm wondering because it looks like there are some deals out there on the MK1, but I'm not interested if it pales significantly compared to the Mk2.

i'm pissing in the dark here, but "discrete" usually is better then non discrete (op amp based?), if that is what deepak means.

Sorry deepak, help me out. Does that mean the MK1 is better/worse/different? I'm wondering because it looks like there are some deals out there on the MK1, but I'm not interested if it pales significantly compared to the Mk2.

I have not heard the MkI but the MkII sounds very good (Tkam's). Good frequency range, and very good soundstage. Heck, I did a side-by-side it to the burmi 006 DAC and yes, the burmi is better in all respects, but the northstar is no slouch, specially in soundstaging. I used the XLR and the BelCanto CD2 as transport for both.

I am not going to keep it as I decided to not assemble that other system (Bel Canto CD2/to a DAC), in other words I already put the transport up for sale on A'gon. So let me know if you are interested in the DAC. I'd let it go for $950 shipped!

I'd let it go for $950 shipped!

Please just shoot Vincent an email, I know he was seriously pissed to have missed it the first time around and he's not able to check the boards very often from work.

no worries, I won't sell it until I hear back from him. He'll see the thread...

no worries, I won't sell it until I hear back from him. He'll see the thread...

PM sent!

Please just shoot Vincent an email, I know he was seriously pissed to have missed it the first time around and he's not able to check the boards very often from work.

Thanks Nate!

I hope you snagged it Vincent.

I wish we had a crossed fingers smiley.

Very interesting DAC and very nice price to boot. I will likely be getting one when it comes out.

I hope you snagged it Vincent.

I wish we had a crossed fingers smiley.

Yup, we're in business!

So far, so good. Nice soundstage. Listening time has been limited however because I've got some buzzing issues. I think it's probably my unshielded XLR's. Will try RCAs tomorrow and post impressions elsewhere.

The North Star is a nice looking unit.

So, I'm curious about what the m192 mkII is doing with regard to upsampling, so I wrote to them asking what happens now that the mkII no longer has the upsampling button of its predecessor. Here's their (very prompt) response:

"the new M192MK2 have a fixed upsampling at 192kHz/24bit.

This allows a more straight digital signal path and we can optimize the analog section only for this sampling frequency.

This design is like our flagship DAC, Extremo"

What does that mean?

So anyone heard the DacMagic?

Because it's fucking magic.

I should have one with me in the next few days, but since I'm still waiting for my balanced mini^3 (with orange LED ), so it will be while before I can hear it.

^cankin, where did you order from?