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

@agonomics-sf I ordered directly from the Denafrips website..Sure enough,just as I predicted,they went on sale today for a discount of $161.52...I reached out to Denafrips & requested a refund for the difference as it has only been 6 days since I ordered & after a little bit of back & forth they agreed to refund me the sale difference!
Also note:DAC ships from China but there was NO shipping charge(to USA) & NO sales tax HOWEVER I expect some kind of import tax to be assessed by DHL before delivery,we will see...
 I’m watching my DAC make it’s way to me now,currently at U.S.Customs in Cincinnati..Took 4 days to ship via DHL but that might have something to do with that horrible fire they had in Hong Kong..

I’d be very curious what the tariff charge comes to if you’re willing to share.  Hope it’s not too bad. 🤞🤞🤞

@soix I will update here when I find out.

 Pontus 15th.has been delivered..Import tax was $78.00 & change..I do not know how much Denafrips claimed on the import value but the Way Bill was clearly marked as "DAC for Conversion of Computer Audio".
 Shipment was created on 11/27,picked up by DHL on the 28th..It could have been delivered Monday but I chose today due to my work schedule so 4 days shipping from Hong Kong included in total price and as I said,no sales tax was charged at time of order...
 I also received a refund of $161.52 from Denafrips as the DAC went on Black Friday sale 6 days after I placed my order..Denafrips communication from customer service regarding price difference was immediate,courteous & effective..
 All in all a satisfying purchase experience..
 I will get it set up tomorrow with an inexpensive interconnect & start burning it in but it will be a while before I do any critical listening as I am waiting on a new Balanced Interconnect from Audio Art & want to put at least 250 hours on both cables & DAC before focused listening begins...
PS:Potential buyers NOTE..DHL left a $2000.00 package sitting on my doorstep with NO signature(which was supposed to be required) & NO KNOCK at my door so be warned if you have porch pirate problems..

Thanks for the follow-up info.  So about a 4% tariff penalty — not too bad and coulda been worse but still annoying to have to pay it at all.  If you want a really nice performance bump for $300 there’s a used Iris available and you can run i2S from it to the Pontus.  I and several others have gotten significant improvements from this relatively cheap upgrade…FWIW.  Enjoy the new DAC!

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/650268513-denafrips-iris-ddc/