Honestly, I feel like with digital once you get to a certain level (say the La Scala for example), increasing performance comes at a massive investment cost. The laws of diminishing returns hits the hardest with DACs/streamers et al and makes you reconsider where the money would be better spent...

The majority of what I listen to (digitally that is) are CDs that I ripped to my Innuos Zen Mini, with the rest being Qubuz and some internet radio. I do use Roon to manage everything. I don't care about high-res as the recording quality matters far more than the bitrate/resolution. Most of my...

@Designsfx Yes, it goes directly into my La Scala. It's a USB regenerator/reclocker so it's only USB in and out. I have my PC going into it using Roon (my Innuos Zen Mini is the Roon Core and acts as my NAS) which then gets cleaned up for my La Scala.

That's a fantastic system. Must sound lovely. And I'm with you re: mainly listening to speakers. These days I listen to speakers 95% of the time as I much prefer enaging with my music that way.

Nice! Hope you're loving your La Scala. Would love to know what's in the rest of your system. Thank you, I do love my set-up. I've had a flurry of (expensive) upgrades over the last couple of years but the system overall is done, at least when it comes to major components. Now it's sorting out...

I'm using Telefunken ECC801S NOS (diamond bottom) as per my signature. They made a small but appreciable difference, although nowhere near as big as upgrading the valves in my preamp.

I must say, since recently upgrading my Speakers to Kudos Titan 505 (incredible btw) it has given me a greater appreciation of my La Scala. Prior to the Kudos, as much as I loved the Las Scala I found it lagged behind my turntable with vinyl playback being the superior format, sounding more...

Missed this thread earlier but as someone who has owned the La Scala for just over 1 year, I can only echo the positive praise for this wonderful DAC. I am using the Innuos PhoenixUSB reclocker which made an appreciative difference to music playback and considering I'm using my PC to output Roon...

Transparent? Yes, very much so. It does a remarkable job of showing the differences in recordings, even between different tracks on the same album. It's neither clinical, warm or overly coloured, but neither is it dry or antiseptic in its character. It's hard to describe but it manages to thread...

Probably a very different sound but I own and adore the Aqua La Scala MkII Optologic DAC. Very organic and natural sounding. Really lets the music speak for itself.

Just want to espouse my love for the WE 300Bs. Don't think that they are a poor choice despite the fanatical proselytization of the Elrogs here. They are holographic, detailed and possess some mighty bass slam. I play some truly hairy music through them (lots of metal of various styles and...

Re: fancy USB cables potentially making the bigger difference, I already had one Curious Evolved cable going straight from my Innuos Zen Mini to my DAC. That sounded nice, no doubt, but there was still a impactful and marked improvement when I added the Phoenix. Hi-fi is one of those things that...

When I added the Phoenix to my Zen Mini MKIII + PSU it made a substantial difference, so much so I genuinely wonder if digital can get much better (without taking out an extra mortgage on the house). Keep in mind I have what I consider to be a very well sorted DAC, so I can't speak for how much...

I'm using Curious Cable Evolved USB cables in and out of the Phoenix and a Shunyata Venom V-12 NR power cable.

So I received my Naim NAP 300DR power amp last week and after receiving a custom RCA-XLR cable made for me (Naim's XLR pins are non-standard) I plugged everything in and am running in the gear. It's still early days (I feel like the cable, due to all its silver will take quite a while to settle)...