??? Denafrips Pontus 15th vs Ares 15th.???


Ground up rebuild of my end of life system nearly complete..
Furman PST-8 > Dedicated & optimized Lenova Thinkpad 1i > Pangea Premier SE USB cable (6% silver plated OFC) > Pathos Classic Remix Mk.II ( 1962 Amperex Holland Orange Globe 6922 & Nordost Red Dawn Leif power cable) w/HiDAC Mk.II module (ESS 9018) plugged into an APC H10 stabilizer/surge protection> Tellurium Q "Black II cables & BiWire jumpers > ProAc Response D2D (latest build )...
 I want to add a more organic,warmer DAC & have narrowed it down to one of these 2 Denafrips R2R DACS...
 I am not a super critical listener,more a music lover who revels in everything that is happening in a song..Sometimes I focus on specific instruments or listen for the super low level details but I'm not anal about that..I do love a wide,deep soundstage...
 My budget would allow for the Pontus 15th.but I'm unsure if I am the kind of listener who will really notice the difference between it and the Ares 15th..I realize the Pontus is a considerable step up in price,build quality & parts but don't want to throw $ at something I wouldn't really benifit from when I could get 90% of it's performance for many hundreds of $ less...
 I guess I'm looking for validation that my system is capable of extracting the benifits of the more expensive DAC & I won't have to rack my brain to actually hear it..So Audiogon'ers,what is your opinion on this matter?
Thanks much,take care & happy holidays to you & yours...

freediver

+1 for @macro1 comments. the largest jump is between the Ares and Pontus. 

The Venus 15th is a nice jump over the pontus 15 but not as large as the jump from the Ares 15 to the Pontus 15. The Terminator 15 is like a more refined Venus 15th. The term is better but does not blow away the Venus 15. 

Your system is certainly capable...I have 2 systems that improved when I removed the PST-8 ...

@jl35 the PST-8 is strictly for the Thinkpad 1i...The Pathos is plugged into an APC voltage stabilizer/surge protector..
Pretty sure I'm going with the Pontus 15th.,waiting to see if anyone has a Black Friday deal before pulling the trigger..

 Well,after a ton of back & forth,heming & hawing,pouring over every review in print & on video I just pulled the trigger on the Pontus 15th.
 Now you mark my words,next Monday they will put them on sale hahahahaha...
 Thanks to those who advised...

@freediver I’m also interested in the Pontus 15th but wanted to ask where you eventually bought it? I reached out to @audioman58 but got an auto-reply saying he’s having surgery, so wanted to find other options that were price competitive.