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, if you enjoy the presentation of your Chord Qutest, then I’d say that you should try to demo a TT2. I had a brand new Qutest for almost a week before I went back to the audio store to listen to some speakers and hp’s, and I first heard the TT2. I went right home, boxed up the Qutest, and traded it for the TT2. 

Thanks all

Report:  i added booster to my LUMIN u1 mini, big difference

Then i took delivery of my LTA AERO DAC.  I will say even without break in i am 

very pleased.  I went with Ray Reserve tubes.  Initial impression.  Bass is deeper than Qutest and tight.  Biggest early difference is soundstage is much bigger with more 3d placement of instruments.  As a R2R with tube output stage, i don’t think “muddy” at all, it is very detailed and resolving, it is a smoother sound, lacks some of that digital harsh in upper mids.  Very happy so far,

thanks all for input 

NOW, I’m gonna save money for a LTA 40 amp