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

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! 

@grannyring

MHDT Orchid bests the Aqua La Voce S2 in my system

If I am not mistaken you had an Aesthetix Romulus or Pandora before. How would you rate these 2 DAC’s compared to the Romulus?
I am testing the Romulus (standard) right now but would like to try other and cheaper options as well before pulling the trigger....

@grannyring, is the Aqua S2/S3 capacitor coupled on the output. I am interested in this DAC but in general I am looking for a DAC with direct coupled outputs.

The S2 has a cap on the output.  The S3 should also based on what I have read. The Orchid, as you know,  also has an output cap, but it is a better sounding unit than the S2.  With a few upgrades I am confident you would love the Orchid. 

@grannyring I'm glad that you've put the flat stacked copper foil caps to use. That's much better than having the caps sit in a cabinet which is why I sold them. I wanted someone else to enjoy them. Mission accomplished!

The MHDT DACs are excellent once the output coupling caps are upgraded. The OEM caps are as light as a feather and tremendously hinder sound quality. I was blown away at how good the Pagoda sounds with a pair of 1uf Jupiter HT caps. The detail of the Pagoda and the musicality of the Jupiter caps are a perfect combination.  

I had my eye on the S2 and S3 when I was in the market for a DAC. Although I could've easily upgraded the cheap WIMA style output caps, there we're two things that kept me from purchasing an Aqua DAC: the lack of a tube buffer and the abundance of basic components in the circuitry that cannot warrant the high price of a new unit. 

What I like about the Aqua DACs is that their cases are elegant and that they employ a decent amount of high quality diodes / voltage regulators in the TO-220 package.