EWWWWW   They managed to fund CNC machining for their geek outs. I don't get why they can't do the same with the same equipment for the pulses. I would happily pay the price difference.

but then again I'm talking to a rolex dealer. 

I hear great things about the caspian.   Have you looked at Unison research amplification yet? My dealer stocked both roksan and Unison, and pointed me to the entry level Unison Unico for the LS50's despite being able to earn bigger commission for the Roksan. He said that the LS50 benefit...

Its not exactly fair. I think a fair comparison would be the pulsar vs    Dynaudio C1 Bowers 805 Diamond Raidho X1

The ls50's don't need huge wattage; but the highest quality power you can provide them. I've compared an ayre AX-7e with a w4s class D monoblocks and the Ayre just outclasses it in everything except being able to play at concert level SPLs. The LS50's just scale so well with higher quality gear...

Naims i find makes for a pacey and exciting first listen. The novelty wears out and I end up looking for something more refined.

naim gear isnt known for being overly detailed. These british manufacturers who have a rep for producing analytical and clinical gear would include the likes of cyrus

depends on the headphones. Zana's on general principle would work well with the high impedance sennheisers whereas the mjolnir pairs well with Audezes.   Have you considered adding the BHA-1 to your list? Its a worthy mention- poor man's gs-x. Sounds great to boot with Planars

I use mine with an ayre ax-7e and kef ls50 speakers. The balanced output is leagues better than the single ended when used on the same amp, but the ax7e is a fully balanced design and works best in balanced anyway. Unsure about SE amps only

The PWD is always a hard one to figure out. It really depends what firmware you're on. I find the 2.4.1 to be the best

Get yourself the kef x300a. The imaging produced by the uni-q driver is not paralleled by anything in that price region

Light harmonic geek out. Heard it at CES. Hands down demolished anything in the same category. Made the flight worth it.

I would stay away. It appears to be an average DAC riding on its brandname.

i would like to see more a da vinci jr kind of look

i found it a bit too smoothing and sacrificed microdetails a bit, causing a loss in nuance

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/geek-pulse-a-digital-audio-awesomifier-for-your-desktop Pre order a fully upgraded geek pulse. Includes fully balanced dac and headamp, femto clock, linear power supply and an audiophile usb cable. Decodes DSD natively- unheard of for the crowdfunded price...

Had the naim in for a week long audition the same time as I was auditioning the PWD. The Naim doesnt hold a candle to the PWD with 2.4.1 beta firmware- even via usb where naim is using audiophileo usb spdif tech. To compare the two, the Naim might sound impressive at first with its Pace and...

The DACs that I'm awaiting for quite keenly is the lightharmonic geek pulse. Looks to be a giant killer - a Da Vinci Junior (comparable to the dcs vivaldi and MSB dacs) of sorts from the same creator and designer

Likewise. The pwd might need to go. Would love to try the flagship Da Vinci if i had 30 grand to splash around

look at the kef x300a. may be out of your budget but they sound sublime for their price. amps are built into EACH speaker, and there is internal dac circuitry.

The giant killer i can see even beating out the PWD would be the lightharmonic geek pulse with the LPS and femto clock.

you can find a Perfectwave DAC mkii used for the same price. I compared the two when shopping for DAC's and they DAC-v1 was just outclassed entirely. The PWD has stood the test of time. Its still a crowd favourite after all years of being compared to other dacs.   Another "FOTM" dac would be...

SOTM usb card. Benefits all usb based DACS from my experience.

Balanced PSU.   http://www.airlinktransformers.com/balanced_power_supply/standard_balanced_power_supplies/BPS1500/   Everything cleans up

the speaker people are invading this thread