Spiegel, you assert that you aren't an audiophile, yet you are reacting pretty much like an old-fashioned audiophile. And that means you admit "hearing" all kinds of nuances that vary with where you're auditioning a device, the reputation of the vendor, the esthetics of the device, salesperson's BS, your mood, the time of day,
etc.
That was me for much of the 50 years that I have been an audiophile. But I learned after 35-40 years that all those above criteria are misleading and generally worthless.
Personally I believe that sound differences exist but the best sound I've experience is from devices that measure well according to objective criteria, and that device that measure very well are essentially indistinguishable from each other.
All that said, if you like the esthetics of the Chord Ultima and the cost isn't prohibitive, go for it.
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