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.
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
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- 19 posts total
Congratulations, @mlapenta . I think you’re going to love the Aero. Did you, by chance, read this review on different tubes in the Aero? I have not heard the Ray Reserves in either of my Aeros, but I will say that Tung-Sol black base, oval plates sound amazing, and better than Tung-Sol rectangular plates, Sylvania GT Bad Boys and a few other well regarded NOS 6SN7 and 12SN7s. If you have opportunity, i really encourage you to try a pair of the T-S oval plates. |
- 19 posts total