Which DACs are known to be sweet/rich/relaxed?

I would recommend an Aurender W20SE streamer… giving you a spectacular and natural / quiet input. Then an Audio Research Reference DAC9 or Reference CD9se. I own the later and had a Berkeley Reference Alpha DAC in my system for several weeks… the ARC was a touch warmer and pretty much just as detailed.

I have been a real fan of Audio Research preamps and phono stages. I just never thought of Audio Research as company that had a great DAC… until my dealer bright one over and said, “listen to this”. When I did… I sent him a message within a minute to order one for me.

These two changes will give you a world class natural sounding front end. I think that will improve every aspect while taking the edge off. If there is any residual brightness.. switch to Cardas Clear Beyond interconnects and particularly a Cardas power cord for your amp.

As I have gained more experience in what music actually sounds like and how to match components to reproduce the emotional connection as well as detail and slam I have moved step by step into more Audio Research tubed gear. I have been able to keep the detail and add the emotional connection (rhythm and pace, midrange bloom) to the music… even in the digital realm. So my digital end has the detail and soul of my great analog end.

Upper quality Aqua , HoloSprings, Denafrips all are R2R dacs.

I agree with xboom. First, try playing through a tube preamp.

I think your problem is the Focals. In the UK they are known to have a very bright signature sound. When Focal and Naim combined it was unfortunately not a good marriage from a Hi-Fi view - Naim has a very forward presentation and mixed with the Focal it makes for uncomfortable listening for many. If the Gryphon has this very detailed Naim sound then the amp-speaker combo you have will be the cause of the harsh top end.

I’ve had these issues before, harsh sounding systems, and I really think that changing the DAC will not really help, and changing the streamer less so. 

+1 duckworp,

This thread makes me believe (more), that audiophiles are more interested in throwing money and stuff on the wall and hoping it will stick than delving into the source of their problems so that they can intelligently fix them.