Aqua hifi La Voce s3.....anyone audition it yet?

Have an S2 here, as you know, and will compare to the $1100 MHDT Orchid. That will be interesting. If the S2 is warmer and more tolerant of poor recordings vs the S3, then it might be the better dac to some. I like resolution to a point. I think too much detail kills enjoyment and musicality in many pieces of high end gear today.

I also see the $2 caps on the output of the S2 and am confident replacing these with some Duelund or Miflex copper foil caps for $100-$400 will get you more of everything including resolution and inner detail.....without becoming too detailed. These caps pass the full signal to the outputs and play a huge role sonically.  This is NOT a place to skimp. No, this is a place to be extravagant! This may well be the best upgrade one could do for the money on this unit.

$1700 is a lot of money to upgrade to the S3. Yes it’s great you can do it, but it comes at a pretty high cost.

@grannyring

When will you be comparing the 2 DACs, and will you provide your impressions back on this thread, or create another?
Will you be doing the cap swap, and if so before or after you compare the 2 DACs?
Thanks

I will compare before cap upgrade and report back! 

Grannyring most people want increased resolution while still keeping a degree of musicality.

The fact that you are comparing the La Voice to the MDT is kind of silly these are two very different dacs.

The build quality of the MDT is comunsurate with its much lower price point. The Aqua S2 to S3 upgrade is hardly over priced as many of the boards are changed and you are essentially rebuilding the product to move from S2 to S3.

The very fact that you can take an older dac the S2 and convert it to the lastest from the company means that a prospective buyer can get off the dac merry go round which is necessasitated by companies making non upgradable platforms.

So yes the Aqua dac is not a cheapier Chinese made non upgradable dac and you are paying for the dac’s superior construction and modularity, there is a strong likelyhood that the Aqua Dac owner has kept the same dac for many years or will keep the dac fro many years, as the dac can always be made current, the MDT will be relegated to the dust bin of history as a newer dac of the month from China will continue to gain users looking for a good sounding product at a much lower price point.

As per swapping a $100 to $400 dollar cap nobody is using a $400 cost cap in a $4k dac, you won’t find that cost cap in a $7k dac either, the reason is simple economics a $4kish dac must cost close to $1,000.00 to manufacturer, with any supply chain each leg of the chain adds cost and increases the final price to the consumer.

Most companies today believe in having a dealer base to enable prospective customers to be able to demo and receive proper service, this is much harder for a non USA based company hence the tried and trued dealer to consumer model works well and costs of manufactuer have to be balanced, the other thing is just because you put in a really expensive cap doesn’t necessarily mean you will get the benefit of a radically much more expensive part in that circuit.

We would agree with you that changing that one cap may make a huge difference we are just saying that it isn’t guaranteed.

Christian Angnelli of Aqua is a very talented engineer if you look at their parts specified they are using some very trick parts allready.

Just food for thought.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Aqua Hifi dealers

It is not silly to compare the MHDT Orchid to the S2. Not sure why you would say that as it is simply not true. We will see which dac is best in my system. I am sure you know the Orchid has many professional and user reviews stating it bested other dacs costing more than the La Voce S2. It would be nice and very professional of you to try and open your mind beyond the small boundary lines of the products you sell. It would bolster your credibility even more, I think you are credible, as a dealer posting here on the Gon. Just a suggestion. It’s a great big audio world out there with many wonderful options beyond what you sell. It is even possible some of these options cost far less and sound as good in many ways. Right? Yes, this is possible. This is not only possible, but very likely. I like the Aqua line and they certainly are among the group of great sounding dacs to consider.

I did not say that Aqua should use Duelund output caps because I understand the realities of manufacturing costs as I am also a builder and seller in this industry. I did say the position of this part is very important and a key place to be extravagant. I do think they could have used a nicer cap costing some $20 like MHDT did. Plenty of good choices here. I will be extravagant and use the Duelund cap on the output of the winning dac.

Yes using the Duelund tinned copper CAST cap is guaranteed to lift the sonic performance of this dac tremendously. No doubt in this particular position and with the nature of the Duelund cap. I have executed too many upgrades on gear over the years to think this one is a guessing game. This one is not.

Anyway, I will honestly report back with a detailed comparison of the S2 vs the Orchid. The sound quality is all that matters here, not just the internal layout and design of the unit. Plenty of well laid out, modular constructed HiFi pieces have been bested sonically by more simplified and well executed alternatives. No single build style always yields better sonic results.