Sorry, just reread your posts and see you replaced your Merason recently with the M3. Would still like your impressions of the M3 beyond liking it. The key thing I am looking for is clarity without digital haze & etching I am sometimes experiencing with my Qutest & Ref 3’s. Thanks
Sorry, my profile is out of date. I did sell my KEF Reference One’s, even though I liked them very much. Just wanted to try something new and I now have QLN 3’s. The QLN’s are a hair warmer than the KEF’s which are more neutral.
Going from the Merason to the Bricasti was a significant change, with the Merason having a warmer sound with some roll off in the upper ranges. The M3 is crystal clear up top, with zero grain, and I would say the noise floor drops a bit, adding to the air and clarity.
Some of this will be repeat of what I said earlier, for completeness sake I will reiterate. I started out using the M3 with my Zenith MK3 via USB, and I would still say the above comments are true. On a whim I bought a used Antipodes CX server, installed Roon, connected the M3 to the CX via a short run of ethernet, and made the Bricasti a network endpoint. This was a huge leap in clarity and the noise floor dropped more. Noise floor is the haze you speak of in my mind, I can now hear a pin drop.
I looked back and I have had the M3 for 3.5 months now, so I am well out of the honeymoon phase and still enthralled by the sound. I was expecting that I would start to think it was too accurate and lacked musicality, but I am still enjoying it. I do think the Merason is a bit more musical than the Bricasti, but overall I am preferring the M3 signature. I am definitely considering a move up to the M1 V2 if something pops up in my price range.
I am a bit surprised that you are hearing haze and etching with your current setup, though I have never heard the Qutest, I have not heard these attributes associated with it. Your system looks like a hybrid two channel, home theater setup. If you continue to have this problem, as an exercise, I would take everything out of the system that has to do with HT, unplug it all, including the subwoofer and the minidsp, and just play Aurender->DAC->pre->amp, and see if you still have that problem.
My system has reached the level where cables and details really matter. If you stay in the USB space, I would very highly recommend the Wireworld Platinum USB cables, I am a big fan of OCC solid silver for digital connections. This made for a very significant upgrade in my system. And you might experiment beyond the Mogami interconnects, OCC copper, Acoustic Zen or WW Eclipse are both good. I had Blue Jeans and Benchmarks before, no contest when I swapped them out.
More advice than you are looking for, but I understand the haze and etch thing, and I went on a mission across my entire system to get rid of it, and it is gone. If you like the Chord sound, which is supposed to be pretty detailed, I do think that you will like the M3, and it will be a significant upgrade for your system.