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Cen. Grand DSDAC 1.0 (vs Pontus II)

Hi guys, 

I made an enquiry with a distributer here in the UK, with a view to ordering the Pontus II. However, he's thrown me a curveball by recommending the Cen. Grand DSDAC 1.0 - another Chinese brand, making FPGA based DACs with PCM to DSD up sampling (from what I can make out). There isn't a lot out there on the interweb - reviews, sound character, presentation etc, much of anything really. 

The distributor claims, or suggests that to him the Cen. Grand is "better" than the Pontus II; I've asked him to qualify and elaborate on this, but in the meantime,  thought I'd ask here to see if anyone has direct experience of this brand/DAC. Just for reference/context, the Cen. Grand DSDAC 1.0 is the Standard version at £2500 (the distributer has offered me 10% discount, so £2250).

Thanks in advance 👍

128x128painter24
mpoll1
24 posts
 

@painter24 so far I would agree with your findings. Sound stage has grown in depth and width. Placement has also improved no end.
My set up with a Luxman integrated and Zu union supremes was a wall of sound and could be thin with the chord, this has helped fill it all out and softened the top end without losing any of the sparkle and detail. Orchestral has seen the greatest benefits so far. 
 

I am looking forward to the bass tightening up with more use. I wouldn’t normally count the hours of use, I was just trying to get as much use as possible before any return period ended. 
 

enjoy your listening 

soix
9,638 posts
 

Forgive my descriptions, I'm a bit rubbish describing what I'm hearing, and the above is my best effort at approximating what I am hearing/experiencing 😜

No way man — you did a GREAT job describing what you’re hearing and I feel like I know exactly what you’re hearing and it sounds fantastic!  I wish more reviewers were as clear and plain-spoken as you are.  Many times I read entire reviews and still don’t know what the damn review sample really sounds like.  Argh!  You give me a few sentences and I feel like I know EXACTLY what this DAC sounds like and it sounds quite impressive, and I hope it just keeps getting even better for you!

painter24's avatar
painter24 OP
312 posts
 

@soix thanks for your kind words; extremely generous 😊👍

cd45123
196 posts
 

Bumping this one up. Anyone been able to compare the Cen.Grand against other Denafrips models or any comparable  brand for that matter? I am looking at getting the base model, which would be on the lower side of my budget. I’m also considering DACs from ANK audio kits up to around $3500.

 

 

 

 

painter24's avatar
painter24 OP
312 posts
 

@cd318 I used own the Ares 2, but that's not really a fair comparison with the Cen. Grande. For what it's worth, the distributor I deal with is also a distributor for Denefrips as well as Cen. Grande. 

He feels that the Denefrips doesn't compete with the Cen. Grandes with respect to the Pontus II vs Cen. Grande Standard; the same as you move up the respective lines. 

People obviously want to buy Denefrips from him; they're immensely popular at the moment, but his preferred DAC, and what he uses at the moment is the Cen. Grande Deluxe version 

 

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