Anyone heard the E.A.R. "Acute"?

I don't think Ear makes the Acute anymore. They do a dac/transport thing for about $13K. I have the previous version without the digital in. It sounds very good. Detailed enough, yet smooth. You can also fool around with tubes if you like to alter the sound. Other than the digital in, I don't think the last version is any different from the previous, although they changed the dac ship to the newer Wolfson, which has a higher sampling rate. A friend bought one after hearing mine and I really don't think there's any difference, although we didn't A/B them in the same room. It's a solid player at a decent price, especially used.

I always liked my Acute with the original JJs, but I bought a pair of 6DJ8 Amperex Bugle Boys from Andy at Vintage Tube Services in 2012 and they sound just great, IMO. Full-bodied, detailed, not harsh. I've seen no reason to fool around with other tubes since then. They were a bit expensive, $266 for the pair shipped, but well worth it, IMO.