I decided to pick one of these up to drive my Klipsch Forte IV in my living room, very excited to give it a whirl. I am coming from a super integrated though that had dac/streamer/etc all built in, so have to put some consideration into my DAC pairing. I use Holo Audio May KTE in my reference system, but it is my understanding folks find that pairing a bit hit or miss with this DAC. Does anyone have experience pairing ESS-based DACs with this? While they would not generally be my first choice, I am considering the Hifi Rose 150b to preserve all the streaming/HDMI ARC/etc functionality I got used to with my previous amp. It runs an ESS 9038 in it, but folks talk about it being implemented in a way that is a bit warmer/more natural than you would typically expect from ESS DACs. Although I have had less trouble in the past with ESS being clinical, and bigger concerns about flat staging. Anyway, would love any recommendations folks may have in this space!
Additionally, any power cords folks have ended up liking/finding were good pairings both sonically and to ensure they are not so bulky/stiff they are pulling the unit over?
Excited to be joining you all in owning this stellar little amp. I have never been a planar guy, but excited to try some of the headphone pairings people have been raving about with this one as well.