I had a Bryston with my DAC 2.5 and found it to be too bright and "etched," as some might say; so, I popped in the Ref500s which fleshed out the harmonics and has a fuller mid-range presentation. I put a PS Audio AC-12 on the Ref500s and that gave me about as much low end as I was getting out of the Bryston, with none of the brightness up top.
The Ref500s does NOT have the soundstage or sophistication of the Pass X150.5 I once had, but it’s half the cost and a fraction of the size. I agree with the previous poster about an Ayre amp.
