Hi all, my SMSL M500 went down, fortunately amazon will reimburse everything back. I've started to look at my new AMP + DAC combo. I wrote down these combos below with my region prices. All of those seem to be best of the best in terms of measurements. Though, possibly some of personal experiences might say something else about these combos and it would be great if you could share some of your knowledge here.
Combo 1 = €882 total
GUSTARD DAC-X16
GUSTARD H16
Combo 2 = €900 total
SMSL SU-9
Monoprice THX AAA 887
Combo 3 = €949 total
GUSTARD DAC-X16
Monoprice THX AAA 887
Combo 4 = €971 total
SONCOZ SGD1
Monoprice THX AAA 887
Combo 5 = €1000 total
SMSL SU-9
SMSL SP400
As I understood they are all fully balanced? I have excluded SH-9, since SU-9 is balanced and SH-9 not, I thought then its not logical to buy that pair or actually its still a considerable buy? Its a nice stack at the end Topping A90+D90 or SMSL SP400 + M400 were too expensive, though the stack + performance would be sweet.
Personally I'm not too interested in Bluetooth connection, MQA or the screen. Just the performance itself for planar magnetic headphones.
Any consideration and recommendations regarding these combos? Is it just "get whatever - will be happy' or are there some sound signatures for specific listener or something else to consider? Thank you
Combo 1 = €882 total
GUSTARD DAC-X16
GUSTARD H16
Combo 2 = €900 total
SMSL SU-9
Monoprice THX AAA 887
Combo 3 = €949 total
GUSTARD DAC-X16
Monoprice THX AAA 887
Combo 4 = €971 total
SONCOZ SGD1
Monoprice THX AAA 887
Combo 5 = €1000 total
SMSL SU-9
SMSL SP400
As I understood they are all fully balanced? I have excluded SH-9, since SU-9 is balanced and SH-9 not, I thought then its not logical to buy that pair or actually its still a considerable buy? Its a nice stack at the end Topping A90+D90 or SMSL SP400 + M400 were too expensive, though the stack + performance would be sweet.
Personally I'm not too interested in Bluetooth connection, MQA or the screen. Just the performance itself for planar magnetic headphones.
Any consideration and recommendations regarding these combos? Is it just "get whatever - will be happy' or are there some sound signatures for specific listener or something else to consider? Thank you
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