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Chord Dave or Ayre QX5 Twenty DAC???

Down to two choices in DAC's, the Chord Dave or the Ayre QX-5 Twenty. Comes down to best sound or versatility and cost. Speakers are Wilson Audio Sasha's and amp is T+A 2500R. Love the versatility of the Ayre but the sound of the Chord Dave is phenomenal, not sure if the Ayre could compare. Not sure if the Chord would still sound as good without spending mass amounts on a power regenerator and power cable. 
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mikelavigne
2,143 posts
 

i’ve owned the Trinity dac and still own the Lampizator Golden Gate, which i’ve recently had upgraded to the newest 512dsd dac, plus the superclocks and the newest RTRpcm dac. last November i had a chance to do an extended demo of the SGM server, which is a super hot-rodded HQ Player optimized server. this was a big step up over my CAPSv4 server. then a month ago i had the chance to compare the GG on the SGM to 2 other dacs in my system, the Nagra HD dac with the optional power supply and output transformers, and the new Aqua Formula RTR pcm dac.

loved the liquidity of the Nagra HD with the SGM, but the Aqua Formula ($14k USD list price) on the SGM was best in my system. the Formula is a space machine, very detailed, yet very mcro-dynamic and natural sounding with excellent timbre and textures.

for me the biggest issue is it reminds me of my vinyl in terms of texture and detail more than other digital i’ve had.

so I’ve purchased the SGM server and the Aqua Formula dac.

btw; I have a 30 tb NAS with about 15 terabytes of music, half dsd and half pcm. i use HQ Player in the SGM server to upsample all my dsd to 384 dxd on the Formula dac. i love what the SGM server and Formula do on dsd.

just thought i’d add this info as an additional data point.

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,230 posts
 
Hello Mike,
Congratulations on getting the Aqua Formula DAC.  I had the opportunity to hear this DAC during an extended listening session last year and thought it was superb due primarily to its natural character.  I can appreciate your happiness with it. The best compliment I can bestow on an audio component is to say it just simply makes music.  Easier said than done,  the Formula did this. 
Charles 
mikelavigne
2,143 posts
 

thanks Charles. the Formula is very natural sounding I agree.

a question. the Aqua Formula has only been out for a short time. there is another Aqua dac which has tubes, the La Scala. the Formula is solid state.

are you sure it was the Aqua Formula and not the La Scala that you heard?

I've not heard the La Scala.

ctsooner
2,480 posts
 
Thanks Mike.  Wow, that's not inexpensive gear.  A step above what I can do, but you done good.  Have heard great things about the server as well as that DAC.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,230 posts
 
Mike, 
I'm pretty sure that it was the Formula. It was at AXPONA 2016 in a room featuring all Italian brands and I believe it was the North American premier for the Formula,. 

If I'm mistaken then I apologize. If in fact what I heard was the La Scala,  it was indeed excellent in that room.
Charles 
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