Denafrips 12 anniversary

Last year I was sucked into buying the Pontus Before the 12/17/21 price hike.

I did. Guess what. No hike. They have the game down. I sold the damn thing

and broke even. No more Denafrips for this buyer.

while we share the sentiment, i also feel there is no need to throw a baby out with bathwater

i believe the pontus, for ~1500 bucks used, is an excellent dac, outstanding build quality, lovely spacious well embodied sound with just a subtle grain heard on only the most resolving systems... there is always something new coming out in the dac market, this gustard r2r thing, the musetec thing, whatever...

but despite my dislike for the commercial behavior of denafrips and their sales channel, let’s please not lose sight of the fact that the pontus will make a lot of people very happy in how it makes digital music sound very good

Wow! That’s impressive hearing 1st hand instead of a reviewer. Better grab one before the price goes up as I’m sure it will. You have me contemplating ordering one to compare with my Musician Aquarius. If better sell the Aquarius and come out ahead. 
 

 I will say the R26 internal pics looks pretty damn impressive. 
 

While one’s impressions regarding sound quality can be subjective, but one thing you cannot deny is that Denafrips build quality inside out is on par with the best out there. They sell a lot of DACs and I have yet to hear too many complaints when it comes to quality or longevity. This is the first time I have heard anyone accusing them of using cheap chinese caps and micro skipping. Most reviewers who have opened up the box are impressed with the quality of parts inside.

The Terminator 2 that I own is built like a tank (weighs 42 lbs., not that it necessarily implies higher quality) and sounds pretty darn good. I had the Merason on loan for 2-3 weeks and really liked it too. It leans more towards the romantic, warm side ... similar to the Luxman DA-06 that I owned as well. But I’m sorry the build quality is just not that great. The Terminator 2, while not as warm or romantic, IMO performs at a higher level. The retrieval of micro-details, soundstage width and depth is amazing.

I have also owned Denafrips Aries II and Pontus II. I agree that Pontus is the sweet spot in their line up. But comparing the Pontus next to Terminator 2 made it clear that the T2 offers more of everything. I don’t think the difference is night and day, but enough (at least in my case) to justify the higher price.

Yeah, the greed monster is taking over. I'd hold out for the special limited edition 9/999 with gold knobs, personally signed by Metallica or whoever.

Confucius say "When no selly put up pricey".