Thanks for this really great response. I was not thinking any of the Abyss would work, but glad to hear you get great sound on them straight out of the Hugo 2. I know @Currawong felt he was loosing a bit out of the Utopia when he first reviewed Hugo 2, but if I recall correctly, I think he later changed his mind after a cable swap. Appreciate the great insight.
I can't remember what I intially thought, but I'm pretty happy with the Utopias out of the Hugo 2, which, of the gear I have here, produces the most detail. I don't mind compromising with a good tube amp sometimes, as I like the synergy more with music that isn't as well-recorded to begin with.
Any one in here get a Holo Spring 2 or Denafrips Ares 2? Would you like to share something about how do they hold up with Hugo 2?
I liked the Holo Spring 2 with regular, CD-quality music in NOS mode, as it had that euphonic sound that made listening wonderful, but I wasn't as impressed with high-res, and DSD sounded completely flat with it. Though I don't listen to DSD-encoded music that often, the Hugo 2 is vastly better with it.