dCS Elgar Plus DAC - DSD Capable - Super Rare

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This particular sample came to us from the original owner in its original box complete with the original owner's manual, product literature, a very well made remote, coaxial cable, and 1394 (firewire) cable.

It’s in near perfect condition without any scratches or signs of misuse. 

The display is super healthy and bright and all buttons work as they should. The remote has been fully tested as well to ensure it is fully fucntional.

It’s important to note that this unit can be used a preamp as it has full function volume control, and is also fully controllable via the remote.

An excellent review and breakdown of this rare component piece from the UK's renowned What Hi-Fi Magazine:

In 1996, dCS released the £8500 Elgar digital-to-analogue converter, claiming it was the first domestic high-end DAC capable of playing 24bit/96kHz files.

The Elgar was upgraded over the next few years to accept 192kHz music feeds and, in Plus guise (introduced in 2000), gained the ability to play DSD through the newly added IEEE1394 connection. The Elgar Plus stayed in production until 2007.

Never heard of IEEE1394 aka Firewire? It’s a type of digital connection. At the time it was assumed it would become the default way to transfer encrypted DSD data streams.

If that upper limit of 24bit/192kHz sounds a bit basic for a high-end product, think again.

While current number-crunchers can routinely replay music streams with even higher sampling rates (384kHz is pretty common), look at the music that’s actually available and you’ll realise that such recordings are extremely rare. Even 192kHz files are nowhere near as plentiful as we’d like.

There’s no shortage of connectivity, even if there are obvious omissions by modern standards. The Elgar has coaxial in both RCA and BNC variants, opticals (a conventional Toslink and the rarely seen ST variety), a pair of AES/EBUs and Clock BNCs – the latter just in case you have a dCS outboard master clock handy.

Bluetooth was barely a thing back then, so its omission is understandable - and there’s no sign of the now commonplace USB-Type B.  

Build quality is superb. Every panel lines up beautifully and the casework oozes substance and quality. The same can be said of the controls, particularly the rotary dial with its smooth movement and high precision feel.

Allen Boothroyd – the designer responsible for the look of Meridian products – did the original exterior design. While the appearance has dated a little, it’s hard to deny it remains clean and unfussy.

The LED display remains a model of clarity, even in a bright room. It’s limited in the amount and type of information it can show, though, which means it’s a pain to work through the rather comprehensive set-up menus.

The minimalist front fascia layout makes the Elgar simple to operate in day-to-day use, but feels clumsy when combinations of buttons have to be used to change the settings. But you’ll only really go through the whole set-up procedure once and then just dip in on the odd occasion, so it isn’t a major issue.