Briscati M12 | PS Audio Direct Stream | Mola Mola Makua

@yysantabarbara, just came across your post. I personally haven’t compared the Mola Mola Makaua pre/dac with those listed. My comparisons with Chord Dave are reviewed on Computer Audiophile and the Mola Mola came out on top. I know somebody who has compared it to the Dave and Nagra and preferred the Mola Mola. I also have read bloggers accounts of the Mola Mola besting Weiss and dCS Vivaldi.

If there is a better dac around then it certainly would cost a lot more money than the Makua.

Thanks. We conversed on Coumteraudiophile forum on this issue. I have put the shopping for the big rig on hold while I am currently shopping for my office system. I am going to take another look at the speakers you mentioned to me last time on the CA forum. I am trying to find a reason not to buy the KEF Ref 3 for my office. I love KEF but I will have 3 KEF speakers if I buy the Ref 3.

This rarely comes up in reviews, but one caveat for the psa direct stream. It may not provide the gain you need in your system. I have coincident Frankenstein amplifiers and could max out the dac's gain without getting quite as much volume as I wanted. It also required me to use the dac in "high gain" mode which pulled up the dac's noise floor, making an audible hissing noise at my listening position. I simply couldn't use it without a separate pre. I do use their perfectwave dac direct, however.