Hegel H390 DAC

@audphile1

I had the PSM-156 and sold it. You can definitely try the Puritan. I highly doubt it’s your problem though. If you’re determined to make it work I would think that both the transport and the dac have to be looked at as a pairing or individually, given the fact that the Simaudio transport didn’t exhibit this sonic trait you’re trying to remediate.

I just thought the Puritan could be a useful experiment to determine whether a power issue might be playing a role in the equation but if you believe it makes more sense to swap out the transport and DAC first, I’ll try to borrow some gear and do that. I feel like I’m in over my head, here. In the meantime, I've gone back to running the Jay's into the Hegel's DAC, because it's both less sibilant and more relaxing than either of the other scenarios I've tried.  

@stuartk that’s cool. Just enjoy the music and take your time in solving this puzzle. When you borrow a dac and a transport you will most likely figure out where the root cause is. It’s odd that the Simaudio transport with your Aqua DAC didn’t have the sibilance as pronounced as your Jays transport.

As to power conditioning…looking at the power supplies in the Aqua and Jays… unless you live in an apartment building in the city something like that lower end puritan is a waste of space and money. It may actually introduce other nuisance like power cord upgrades for it, restricted dynamics, etc. 
If you want to upgrade your power, run a dedicated line for your system. Cheaper and better.

@audphile1

It’s odd that the Simaudio transport with your Aqua DAC didn’t have the sibilance as pronounced as your Jays transport.

Yes. This initially led me to assume the Jay’s was the problem but, in fact, when running it directly into the Hegel, there is less sibilance and a markedly more relaxed presentation, overall, than when the Aqua is in the signal chain.

I can live with this set-up, no problem. I’m wondering if perhaps a tube dac might be a better match. Linear Tube Audio is coming out with one of their own design early in the year. I prefer to buy products I can demo at home and return if necessary and LTA offers a 14 day return policy. The fact that it has only two tubes is a big plus in my opinion. I swore I’d never use tube gear again (audio or guitar) due to the mantainence factor but I could change my mind.

As for power, I live in a rural area of large parcels (we have one of the smaller ones at 25 acres). Each parcel has its own transformer. Pretty far from the scenario you describe! And, Hegel does not favor use of power conditioners for their integrateds.

Yup. Don’t bother with a power conditioner.