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

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

Well after full break in and an upgraded Western Electric Tube the MHDT Orchid bests the Aqua La Voce S2 in my system.  The Orchid offers improved bass, pace, dynamics, intimacy, resolution and also has all the warmth and midrange bloom of the S2.  The stage size is now on par with the S2 also. 

Now I am left with the decision to jump to the S3 or stay with the Orchid. The S3 is said to be better in the same ways the Orchid is better. Is the S3 better sounding than the Orchid? Don’t know and have to spend lots more money to find out. 

The Orchid can be upgraded by good DIY folks with better output caps etc...

We will see. 

One final post on my work today. I installed some very nice flat stacked 2.2uf Jupiter copper foil in wax caps on the outputs of the Orchid that were already broken in. Oh my, another nice jump in performance across the board. Keeping this baby!