belgianbrain
Super Member
Recently I had the opportunity to try out a new Aqua La Voce S2.
I thought I’d share my impressions of this DAC.
First, background: I use a Lampizator. I’ve been following the Lampizator since long before he had a commercial product. I modified CD players. I built some of his kits. Then, when he offered an affordable DAC, the Amber, I picked one up right away. I got one of the first Ambers, so it is different than what is selling today. It is not Sabre based, it is based on the same mystery chipset he uses in his Level 4 line, I believe. I have upgraded it. The analog section has a CLCLC power supply filter section. I rolled tubes to find the best for my taste, currently two top of the line military grade NOS Siemens tubes sit inside. The output caps are Duelunds. This DAC sounds awesome. I love it.
Now for the La Voce. It is good. It is very, very good. It very nearly ties the Lampizator. In fact, maybe it does. Sometimes I will hear a detail in a song that I did not hear with the Lampizator. But, the Lampizator has a quality that I cherish. There is a spooky reality to human voice and piano that I cannot quite match with the La Voce – it is close, but not quite where the Lampizator is.
Now, when I look at the circuit board of the La Voce, a red flag waves at me. IMHO, one of the most important things after the analog stage is the quality of the coupling caps. I see RIFA in the Aqua La Voce. This is a good but relatively low cost capacitor to other audiophile grade caps. To be fair, I don’t think anything in this price range is offering much more. Even my Lampizator had similar caps as it was delivered. But still, It makes me wonder....what if I spent $200 on the output caps?
I could easily make my Lampizator sound worse than the La Voce by downgrading the output caps or the tubes. It wouldn’t take much. So I stare at the La Voce and I wonder….how would this sound with Duelunds or Jupiter Copper Paper and Wax output caps? Maybe all that’s needed is a bypass for the RIFA? Hmmmmm…..my fingers are getting itchy.
I thought I’d share my impressions of this DAC.
First, background: I use a Lampizator. I’ve been following the Lampizator since long before he had a commercial product. I modified CD players. I built some of his kits. Then, when he offered an affordable DAC, the Amber, I picked one up right away. I got one of the first Ambers, so it is different than what is selling today. It is not Sabre based, it is based on the same mystery chipset he uses in his Level 4 line, I believe. I have upgraded it. The analog section has a CLCLC power supply filter section. I rolled tubes to find the best for my taste, currently two top of the line military grade NOS Siemens tubes sit inside. The output caps are Duelunds. This DAC sounds awesome. I love it.
Now for the La Voce. It is good. It is very, very good. It very nearly ties the Lampizator. In fact, maybe it does. Sometimes I will hear a detail in a song that I did not hear with the Lampizator. But, the Lampizator has a quality that I cherish. There is a spooky reality to human voice and piano that I cannot quite match with the La Voce – it is close, but not quite where the Lampizator is.
Now, when I look at the circuit board of the La Voce, a red flag waves at me. IMHO, one of the most important things after the analog stage is the quality of the coupling caps. I see RIFA in the Aqua La Voce. This is a good but relatively low cost capacitor to other audiophile grade caps. To be fair, I don’t think anything in this price range is offering much more. Even my Lampizator had similar caps as it was delivered. But still, It makes me wonder....what if I spent $200 on the output caps?
I could easily make my Lampizator sound worse than the La Voce by downgrading the output caps or the tubes. It wouldn’t take much. So I stare at the La Voce and I wonder….how would this sound with Duelunds or Jupiter Copper Paper and Wax output caps? Maybe all that’s needed is a bypass for the RIFA? Hmmmmm…..my fingers are getting itchy.
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