Briscati M12 | PS Audio Direct Stream | Mola Mola Makua

@yysantabarbara, just came across your post. I personally haven’t compared the Mola Mola Makaua pre/dac with those listed. My comparisons with Chord Dave are reviewed on Computer Audiophile and the Mola Mola came out on top. I know somebody who has compared it to the Dave and Nagra and preferred the Mola Mola. I also have read bloggers accounts of the Mola Mola besting Weiss and dCS Vivaldi.

If there is a better dac around then it certainly would cost a lot more money than the Makua.

Thanks. We conversed on Coumteraudiophile forum on this issue. I have put the shopping for the big rig on hold while I am currently shopping for my office system. I am going to take another look at the speakers you mentioned to me last time on the CA forum. I am trying to find a reason not to buy the KEF Ref 3 for my office. I love KEF but I will have 3 KEF speakers if I buy the Ref 3.

This rarely comes up in reviews, but one caveat for the psa direct stream. It may not provide the gain you need in your system. I have coincident Frankenstein amplifiers and could max out the dac's gain without getting quite as much volume as I wanted. It also required me to use the dac in "high gain" mode which pulled up the dac's noise floor, making an audible hissing noise at my listening position. I simply couldn't use it without a separate pre. I do use their perfectwave dac direct, however. 

I actually decided to get a pre-amp for the more expensive system that I am building later in the year. I am undecided on which of the 3 expensive DAC's from my list to get but it may come down to cost (maybe used). I will be getting the Luxman C990u and m900u separates to use with the expensive DAC. It just seemed to me from comments I read and people I spoke with that the pre route would work best over direct-to-amp when using the Luxman's.

I recently built up my office system with the Benchmark DAC3L direct into the Benchmark AHB2 amp. Likely driving the Tektron Electron speaker  (decided on this last night). This gear for the office is on order so I have not heard it yet. I should have the amp and the DAC driving my KEF LS50's something next week. The Tektron Elctron will be bought in a few more months after I move. The DAC3L is both a dac and an analog pre-amp.

@toetapaudio, is Mola Mola Makua ethernet module available yet?  I was told it will be available summer 2017.