Usher Mini Dancer 2 or Q Acoustics Concept 500 - Marantz PM Ki Ruby

My BE 20 DMD's used the same tweeter and were highly detailed without sounding bright so I would agree you're just not finished with placement yet. Regarding break in...I did have 1 pair of speakers, the KEF R105/3 that seemed to take forever for the high fq's to settle in, otherwise more often than not I find placement and component matching make the biggest difference and regarding a bright or glaring sound that's most often an effect of reflected sound and pulling speakers a few feet away from sidewalls and tv monitor, if after the 200 hrs still sound harsh, helps.

@steve59 i think you might have addressed my problem. I recently increased the gap between the speakers (taking them closer to the side walls) with the hope that it would improve the soundstage and imaging.  Maybe that's what has caused them to be sound a bit brighter recently.   I'm gonna pull them closer to each other (away from the side walls) and see if it helps. I'll let you know how it goes. Cheers

I am sure they sound great.

I used to own some Usher Dancer TD-10, and I always thought they were a bit of a giant killer.

Sonically, they competed with speakers at not unsubstantially higher prices.

prashanth14485

Sorry for the late response, I was on vacation for a week

Congratulations on the Ushers, while I have not heard them....they have an excellent reputation.

Pontus II 12th - This is a giant killer of a DAC, much like your speakers....the kind of equipment that I am drawn to. IMO it is the best DAC under $3,500, and incredibly musical. I will only upgrade when I can afford a higher end Lampizator or the Denafrips Terminator Plus 12th or the like.

I use the Non Over Sampling mode (NOS), as I find it to be more musical and slightly warmer and "magical" especially on vocals. I can see some preferring the over sampling mode, to eke out some more detail, but I find it to be too analytical and less involving. I also use the slow filter, as I find the fast filter removes some of the detail.....it could be useful in a bright overly detailed system though

Another thing about the Pontus II (and other newer DACs frankly) is the use of an I2S input. I have a BlusSound Node 130, which has the USB output turned on (which your Node 2i does not). I take the output of the Node 130 via USB to a Denafrips Iris DDC and then I2S HDMI cable to the Pontus II DAC. This also was a very noticeable bump in quality, both the better clocking and the I2S connections probably equally contributing to the SQ bump.

@vthokie83 hey, hope you enjoyed your vacation. Thanks for the detailed response. I am going to look into the I2S. I am still not familiar with the concept and what exactly it does. Sounds like I need a streamer with USB out and a DDC in order to utilize the I2S input in Pontus. Do I understand this correct? The other problem is that I want to get into Vinyl. Saving up to buy my first TT, so getting a new streamer and DDC will be challenging in the near term..lol

One last question, what do you recommend for Phase setting on the Pontus? Leave it on (light on) or off? I go back and forth and can’t tell much of a difference. I’m not sure what it does to be honest.