Grannyring, you miss our point. The point is that a product like the Aqua or other dacs that are modular and are hardware upgradable represent a purchase once and done scenario.
The older Aqua S2 sounds good, the S3 version sounds far better, the case of a Dac like the Aqua is that even if it is $1,700 to upgrade the dac, it is far cheaper than selling the dac getting one half to one thirds its resale price, and reinvesting for far more money with other platforms.
As per losing the dac for a couple of weeks most Aqua dealers can rebuild a dac in a less than an hour the only thing that can take more time is loading the new firmware.
The latest upgrade to the Forumla requires swapping out one board it takes 5 mins.
Please understand the Aqua line is just one choice out of a myriad of choices the coolest thing about the dac is aside from its sound quality is the fact that Christian Angeneli is always working to improve his product and with an Aqua the owner's long term value is protected and the product can continue to develop as new technlogies are implimented into the platform.
Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Aqua Dealers