LaScala dac with telefunken tubes

@designsfx

I would be interested to hear your impressions of any differences between the two. As I mentioned, I am quite inexperienced with tubes, and my current hybrid amp and DAC are my first forays into that world. I don’t doubt that there are differences, but it would surprise me if Aqua had replaced the Telefunken with the Gold Lion without believing that the sound was at least as good.

With regard to the review that I excerpted above, I believe Punter to be a serious reviewer, but I'm sure that some of his reviews are influenced by biases. So I do take his black and white conclusion on this particular topic with a grain or two of salt.

gotta say this is the first time i come across anyone whos listened to TFs to say that they prefer new production gold lion to TF (smooth plates? ribbed?) but hey someone eventually was gonna make a circuit where gold lion was at the top of the the tube chain. 

@whipsaw-

I agree with that statement- no doubt that Aqua would have made that change if they didn’t feel it to be a vertical move. I do find the subject of “tube rolling” fascinating though and personally wouldn’t be opposed to experiencing the available options. It definitely requires a level of trust with a reputable dealer as only each individual can define their preferences and the world of NOS tubes can become an expensive habit! 
I’m not sure how much research you’ve done on the subject but I found the descriptions at Brent Jesse’s site to be interesting. The tubes for the Aqua La Scala can be found here

@cey-

I can’t really comment on the difference between the newer Gold Lion vs Tele (meaning the $50 tubes available today). I know this happened sometime after the Optologic version of the DAC was offered but not sure what drove the change. My Optologic was made in 2018 and came with Tele’s (which is why I upgraded a NOS Tele).

I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere that the Telefunkens supplied by Aqua are NOS.  There are new production Telefunkens being made in Russia by the same people who make the Gold Lions, which is also a classic tube brand that was originally made in the UK.

Does anyone know if the Teles are NOS or new production?