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

@facten

I did an initial comparison between a fully broken in Aqua La Voce S2 with upgraded current usb input board and the MHDT Orchid with 2 hours of playing time. Both dacs are fantastic. I will give a more complete comparison this weekend after the Orchid breaks in more fully. Very close call as to which one is a keeper after the first listen. Very close. The La Voce throws a bigger stage with the Orchid better than the La Voce in most other areas at this point. The Orchid sounds more nuanced with better focus and inner detail resolution. The Orchid has faster and more articulate bass. The La Voce is warmer while the Orchid is smoother especially on hot female voices. The La Voce midrange is a tad more full at this point.

I am a sucker for a large stage and thus far the La Voce has that in spades! If the Orchid opens up more during break in, then it will be the easy choice as it excels in many sonic areas.

My system...
Dali Epicon 6 speakers with greatly upgraded crossover
Clayton Audio Class A amplifier
Innuos Zen lll
sotm switch and their top of the line Ethernet cabling
BPT power conditioner

@grannyring

Thanks for your initial impressions, look forward to your further impressions on the weekend

The reality of this comparision is questionable,  Grannyring is comparing an out of date Aqua not an S3 the newer S3 sounds very different in terms of improving the overall sound quality of the dac while still keeping the tonality and soundstaging very similar. 

The point we were trying to make is that the Aqua dac is aninvestment grade dac which can continue to improve, where the MDT is stuck in time and will become obsolete while the Aqua can continue to improve.

Why don't you upgrade your S2 and then do the comparison?

If you read any of the reviews on the S3 they are all raves, the S2 did have a bit of excessive midrange color which although was very nice obscured detail. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Aqua dealers

Yes the S3 sounds better and we agree. I will post my results regardless of your agenda. The upgrade to the S3 costs hundreds more than the cost of a new Orchid. Then there are the shipping costs and not having your dac for a couple of weeks. We Agoners often buy used gear so the comparison is just dandy!

I may well end up liking the S2 more than the Orchid. The S2 is not old enough to be considered obsolete if the owner can’t or won’t afford” the S3. I sure hope not. Reviewers were singing its praise just 3 years ago.

Grannyring, you miss our point. The point is that a product like the Aqua or other dacs that are modular and are hardware upgradable represent a purchase once and done scenario.

The older Aqua S2 sounds good, the S3 version sounds far better, the case of a Dac like the Aqua is that even if it is $1,700 to upgrade the dac, it is far cheaper than selling the dac getting one half to one thirds its resale price, and reinvesting for far more money with other platforms.

As per losing the dac for a couple of weeks most Aqua dealers can rebuild a dac in a less than an hour the only thing that can take more time is loading the new firmware. 

The latest upgrade to the Forumla requires swapping out one board it takes 5 mins. 

Please understand the Aqua line is just one choice out of a myriad of choices the coolest thing about the dac is aside from its sound quality is the fact that Christian Angeneli is always working to improve his product and with an Aqua the owner's long term value is protected and the product can continue to develop as new technlogies are implimented into the platform.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Aqua Dealers