DAC UPGRADE QUESTION

What specific improvements are you looking for and what’s your budget?

OP,

sorry about all the noise you originally received.

Yes, it is very likely you can significantly improve your sound with a better DAC. Typically, if you carefully choose you will get a very significant improvement when doubling your investment up to the average cost of your components. Just a general guideline I have found true. So, you could budget to about the cost of your preamp or amp. Fully investigate (not using ASR as a source of info) DACs into that budget. Be cautious if you want detailed oriented or musical oriented because in this price range it is easy to get highly detailed fatiguing equipment.

Just a thought: you may be able to replace BOTH Lumin U2 Mini and Qtest (Chord) with a single Lumin DAC upper in the line. They are DACs with streamers built in. Such as the T3, P1 or X1, depending on your budget. Doing this will also simplify your system (one less box, one less power cord, interconnect...)

Oh.... don’t mind Jason Bourne. For some reason he is the first to post on each thread with the same stuff. Disregard / ignore him

There are lots of questions to ask here.  Are you happy with the Qutest?  Are you just seeking more?  Is anything missing?  Tonally, is they system good?

The obvious step would be a TT2 if everything is perfect and you just want more.  If something is off or you want some other difference or the system is too bright, etc… that would lead us down a different path.  
 

full disclosure, I am a dealer who focuses on DACs and have tested dozens.  The guys who say there is “no difference” in DACs are welcome to their opinions.  My experience is quite different and I do not believe I have golden ears.  There is a lot of compromise in what DACs do in terms of detail vs staging and the question is what is your priority and the tonal balance of your system. 

You might find some interesting differences/improvements by comparing R2R type DAC's versus chip based dacs. Increased price doesn't necessarily mean better performance. IMO.