Dark Horse DAC

The Gustard R2R26  is a very good dac with exceptional Japanese build quality 

and as with any dac uses respectable aftermarket powercord ,the Pangea awg14-MK2 which uses Cardas best -0 crystal copper ,and synergistic Purple fuse 

really brings out addeddetail and resolution a 2.5amp slow blow fuse 

Balooo2 . This dac was designed in part by matrix in China , as well as Chinese tubes and many other parts , so your point ofthe Gustard is made in China , I see no point , and I agree with ji1ny  Jay is a s hill, I have seen him one month say how great a product is 2 months later that product had several things he didnot prefer. 
the doge mk7 mk2 I heard months ago it was warm and pleasant , but not the last word in low level detail or even close and it’s bottom end was a bit loose in the bass , the Denafrips Pontus2 , and well as as the Gustard R2R26 are better dacs overall imo at under $2k. Jay the Reviewer is just a kid ,if you look back he has flip flopped more then a fish going back 2 years , especially with Loudspeakers ,

this dac will win some people over , and it is no Lampizator  iso no ample power supply and myself many know me in Loudspeaker Xover rebuilds or My Duelund Loudspeaker purifiers , the clarity capacitors used are next to the cheapest quality clarity makes , and you use tons of resolution through so many caps normally  2 quality caps are used forthe output stage I have used many good ones myself in Lampizator the purple clarity caps would be a big upgrade , Millflex from Poland Huge upgrade for less then $100 for all the big output caps ,I would guess these are 1 uf  caps . So before selling the house to buy this know just by looking at the picture without seeing it close up  ,the Gustard  R2R 26 has  excellent build quality using a bunch of high quality parts from Japan llikeNichicon Gold tune filtering caps , potted toroidal transformer to contain stray magnetic fields , and No output caps  it uses direct a quality R2R precision resistor ladder dac architecture , and like the pontus 2  have a good following , ifyou want reference quality look elsewhere .

top quality cost $$ plain and simple tops bargain is IMO the T+A 200 dac around $7k  the Denafrips Terminator dacs their + is their best,  the Holo spring May KTE is verygood in the $6 k range  , the T+A dac by far the best I have heard at this price point  and currently saving for. I have not found a dac at 2x it’s cost that truly betters it ,  around $5k and up to get true Audiophile refined quality dac standards , I am just being honest ,vs the $2k dacs these are on another level by 15% , yes you can do better still but then it may take you $20 k to get another 7% diminishing returns   Your budget will dictate a Lot of this .

The Doge tubes inherently have much higher noise then a SS devise now x8 that is substantial, what is lacking is a Abundance of Filtering kits noise floor and S/N is nothing special , I have head the mk2 several times with nos tubes, YesI pleasant but not real refined and get the low level detail and separation like dacs in the$5-6k range , Jays comments are far from accurate  having heard his reviews and often say how good a product is then 3 months later move on and loose favor 

typical of Newbe Audiophile. Myself in the field over 40 years, owned a Audio store and have very good access through multi state New England Audio contacts being within 3-4 hours of 5 states is  excellent ,  yes these are very good for the $$ but Donot put these up against $10 k products, MSB make some very good products but Waay over priced , theT+A 200 dac at $7k is the best dac I have  heard even against dacs at 2x the cost ,  the Holosprings KTE , or terminator+ are also very good ,Jay reviewed them and didnot compare the Doge to these dacs ,these are night and day better ,compare 🍎 to 🍎 in $$ to be fair.