Sonic performance over my previous DAC, the NAD M51, is that the Conductor has a bit more punch, more detalis but mostly it has tighten up the bass pretty much. The NAD M51 had a bloated bass with not so much contour around it when it got low enough.
The Conductor delivers no less bass than the M51, but it does it with more edges around it. And that is a good thing when you use a tube amp. I also think positioning of sounds in the soundstage is a level higher than the M51.
I am very happy with the sound quality of the Conductor. It just blew away the NAD M51 I used earlier. And from what I gather the sound will improve over time.
Except for the Conductor the system consists of a Mastersound Compact 845, C.E.C TL51XR, Hanss Aqoustic T10 and a Rega RB303 tonearm with a Ortofon 2M Black pickup. I use the Lehmann Audio Black Cube SE as phono amp. All signal and speaker cables from Equilibrium, Poland. Also all power cables and mains filter are from Poland; ENERR. Finally the speakers are a couple of Living Voice Auditorium R2.
Mikael N.