Some DACs I am Considering-Any thoughts?


Soekris 2541                $1.1

Doge 7                         $1.2

Mhdt Pagoda               $1.4

Denafrips Pontus         $1.8

Audio Mirror SE           $2.5

Holo Audio Spring 2    $2.7

Audio Note 4.1 Kit       $3.6

Lampizator Amber 3    $3.8

Anyone who can speak from experience  about comparisons
between any two these?

I like the use of a tube and I like the R2R style of build.

Prefer to stay under $2.5 but might be swayed.

Thanks in advance for sharing.

(Some of these prices are certainly not correct)
chorus
I have the Soekris 1541 which is superb, I don't believe they make any longer.
I'd look at the Soekris 2541, especially if looking at balanced.
Wish you would update your profile so we can see what other components you use, just saying for a friend
OP: As you can see above, most people will suggest DACs they already own or are quite familiar with. I suspect that from an SQ perspective, they will sound more alike than different with minor variances. I was in a similar boat last year, and for me it came down to the following ...

Serviceability -- if anything breaks, how easy is it to reach the manufacturer, and what will it cost for 2-way shipping? Since I'm in the US, it ruled out a number of manufacturers. 

Upgrade path -- I wanted to start with the base version and upgrade only after I decided that I liked the overall sound signature. Again, this would have required me to pay for shipping the unit for upgrades. And not every manufacturer offers a straightforward upgrade path.

I eventually settled on the Audio Mirror Tubadour III, which I absolutely love for the price I paid for it. I'm planning to send it to Vlad for an upgrade to the SE version in a few months.
If you can get a 2541 go for it.  They bare backordered at $1400.
Still a bargain.
@georgehifi just curious have YOU actually heard each of these dacs or are YOU basing your views on build and chip sets?

Got a feeling your not going to like what I’m about to say.

Heard the Soekris 1541, Denafrips Termi, Holo Spring L2, and Audio Note, based my list on what I heard and some of what’s used and implement in the circuit.
I’m not a believer in tubes in dacs, to me it’s a way of "sweetening" a dac that’s got problems being hard or harsh, at the expense of "lowering" other wanted parameters also, silicon does a far better "truer" "direct coupled" job if the base dac is good one. If not it will be much more revealing of it’s faults, and therefore could be sweetened some by the use of a tube used in either the I/V stage or output buffer stage after the dac chip.

Cheers George