??? 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...
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/ |
@soix Well eBay has been charging State sales tax on every purchase,including out of country purchases for years now,most all internet purchases nowdays charge State sales tax & the import tax I paid was equal to my State sales tax so I see it as a wash. |
@freediver and other contributors to this thread - thank you so much for the information. I picked up an Ares II, to be delivered today but have been super curious regarding the Pontus 15. Your sharing of your experiences has been incredibly insightful and great for thought. |
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