PMG Signature SACD player and Dac?

Are these the new series player and dac? I just noticed them on the PS Audio website but they are Sold Out. Are these the new player and dac and how do they compare to the Directstream Perfectwave SACD transport and DSD Mk2 dac?

These are the new products where info about them was just released at Axpona on Friday April 11, 2025. June, July, August, September are the anticipated release months for purchasing. New preamp, new DAC/streamer, new SACD transport, new phono stage. Early impressions are that they sound clean & musical, even in a room that is challenging for audio quality.

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I must wonder how they compare to the PST and DSD Mk2? I am in Canada so it looks like buying American Audio gear may be very expensive due to tariffs but still I must wonder how the new gear compares to the not very old gear?

Yeah, not sure why the website says sold out because we haven’t sold any! We’re taking reservations for them now, but the preamp, for example, won’t ship until June, the DAC in July.

And yes, they are replacing the BHK pre and the DirectStream DAC.

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Congratulations, the new design is lovely, i like the look of wave on the front. Well done @Paul

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I love the new design. I purchased the mkII and the AirLens not so long ago so I’m very much hoping for a very good trade-inn deal here in the Netherlands :folded_hands:t2::folded_hands:t2:

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I love the look of the inside of the new dac and pre! I would love to hear them. For the time being I am loving my modded DS Mk1 and PST.
Is it known if the tariffs both ways Canada and USA affect the price of US audio gear into Canada?

@paul should we assume that 2100ish trade in for the MKII the website is inaccurate as well?

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Trump just announced computer, phone, chip, and flat TV are exempted from tariffs. DAC is a computer, right? :grin:

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How and where do we put in a reservation? Initially, I’m interested in the PMG 512 DAC. Is there an official location for this process?

The company needs a better text writer and/or editor. The SACD player employs copied and pasted info from the PerfectWave SACD transport literature, i.e. that the DMP was this new one’s ā€œpredecessorā€ and that the ā€œair gapā€ transmission of data is introduced for the first time in this component. Neither of these statements are true.

I wish I were still working and/or single. . . I’d love to have the new phono preamp, transport and DAC. . . but I’ll never be able to afford them. Good thing I love the system I have!

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At the show. You can also reach out to any of our sales folks you work with, like Chris, Caleb, or Taylor.

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Thank you, Paul. I will do that.

Greg Pollock
Ventura, CA

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Iā€˜m one of the people using HQplayer to upsample everything to DSD512 through a non oversampling DAC. In my experience the filters in HQ player that sound the best are the ones with millions of taps such as sinc-M or sinc-L. What I would like to know from PS audio how you achieve good sound quality with just 64 taps in the new PMG DAC. @Paul can you share more information on the filter design. This is the make and break of the sound quality from what I’ve learned from HQ player. Every filter sounds different.

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Yup. I understand. There’s always a nice knob feel that is hard to beat. What we figured was most people are sitting in their listening chair and using the remote. That’s certainly me and unless I am playing vinyl or CDs, I am never standing at the unit.

We labored long and hard over that decision: aesthetics, timeless look, where to put the display IF it had a knob and all that. Consider that only the preamp and DAC would need a volume control. If we put the knob on the far right that would mean the display would be a second circle to the left. Fine. But then, for everything else without a volume control, the display would sit as an orphan to the level (for symmetry). Ok, then change the knob to a knob/switch for those without a volume control…and on and on.

In the end, I opted for practical and simple.

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@Paul. Totally understand. I started a new thread called Knobs, Buttons, and Switches vs Touchscreens. I don’t know how to copy your very good answer there.

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Pasted…

I’ve been dreaming about a DirectStream + AirLens combo for quite some time but this made me confused. @Paul, you said above that this DAC replaces the DirectStream (with a link to the mk1). Would the mk2 with an AirLens be a step up or just not make sense anymore? Or is it rather the Stellar Gold DAC + AirLens combo that no longer makes sense? I do like separates…

PGM Dac has built in streamer of the same quality as Airlens (quoting paul on that one). So if you went the PGM route you would not need the Airlens. The MKII is going to take a nose dive just like many other deprecated devices in this hobby. If you can get a really good deal used maybe its the way to go as the PGM is pretty expensive. The Gold and Airlens is quite nice a deal. A friend grabbed both on refurb site here and got quite a deal. Of course only a few have heard PGM so sound quality difference cannot be what I will say ā€œverifiedā€ but by only a few.

Many here with the MKII are anxiously awaiting @Paul to let us know the deal coming in I assume in the next few weeks that we will have on trade in when the PGM comes out end of July/August timeframe.

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and, though time running out, new AirLens is $500 off, $100 cheaper than refurbished unit as of couple weeks ago