1. Home
  2. digital
  3. 196980-4001

Chord Qutest Upgrade

I'm sure this horse has been beaten to death, but.....

My system

Lumin u1 mini feeding

Chord Qutest dac (with external power supply) feeding

PrimaLuna evo3000 integrated amp feeding

Golden Ear Triton 1r 

Interconnects and speaker wire are Synergistic Research 

Audioquest and cullen power cables

I really like R2R dacs.  I'm thinking time for 2 upgrades

add Sbooster to u1 mini and obtain a new DAC

So......  what R2R dac and why, would like to keep it under 4k

Candidates:

Gustard R30

Denafrips Venus 15

Laiv Harmony with uDDC clock

any others?

THANKS

 

 

 

 

 

 

mlapenta
mlapenta OP
132 posts
 

After much research and input from You (TY), I think i have narrowed it down to 2.

The LTA Aero Dac or the Gustard R30

The Aurrender A1000 also seems very interesting but.. the other 2 are R2R 

Any additional thoughts?

Thanks

 

jazzman7
372 posts
 

Had Chord Qutest in my main rig from 2019 to 2022. Great little DAC and still have mine in another system. In 2022 acquired a Rockna Wavelight and haven't looked back. To my ears not as ebullient or analytical as the Qutest. The Wavelight to my ears is a more organic presentation, warmer, with a wider soundstage, while still highly resolving and not at all fatiguing. New it is outside your budget, but used it should be well within your budget.

mlapenta OP
132 posts
 

I decided to go LTA AERO with Ray Reserve tubes.  Will report back

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
7,936 posts
 

That’s a good choice. Congrats!

soix
11,238 posts
 

Nice!  Look forward to your thoughts after it’s got some time on it although I’m guessing there may be a lot to like right outta the box. 🤞

More to discover