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R to r dacs

I was completely taken by the sq of the Aqua hi fi la scala dac during a demo.  Even with a discount the price is out of budget and would have to add a streamer as well
I have been following multiple impressions of direct to consumer units such as Denefrips pontus, audio gd 7 and Holo May.  Anyone with experience with the Aqua hi fi and the subsequent dacs?
TIA

tennisdoc56
jszei
30 posts
 
I think you should research the Holo May. I own the Spring and a Chord Hugo TT2. They are different but not better than one another. I have also had a Chord Dave in my system comparing it with the Spring and there wasn't much difference. I am expecting the May delivery this month which should be an improvement over the Spring. 
tennisdoc56 OP
128 posts
 
Leaning towards the denefrips Venus.  Very strong reviews.  And if the upgrade bug for the la scalla comes around, the retail loss won’t be a killer at that price 
chorus
976 posts
 
MSB under $5k is a buy.
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 
@calvinandhobbes Thanks for that review. Before I decided on my Pontus II, the Qutest was the other top contender based on research without the opportunity to listen to it. Your description of what you hear with the Pontus echoes my own experience. You did a great job explaining in detail much of what I'm hearing. Cheers,
Spencer
cat_doorman
236 posts
 
Anyone with experience with the Sonnet Morpheus that can chime in on how it compares to the Aqua or some of the others previously mentioned? It’s similar to the Aqua in that it’s also R2R with an FPGA, but I’ve never actually heard either one. 
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