Denafrips Terminator II 12th anniversary VS. Terminator PLUS 12th anniversary

I am a Denafrips online Dealers , the New Terminator Gen-15  is the Terminator 12+ ,as well as the New  Pontus 15 is = to the Venus 12th 

the Venus is discontinued a new Venus 15 coming out next month 

the Terminator is Identical even on the most critical part of the dac The Ultra precision shielded encapsulated Dual Oven ⏰ Clocks are the same it says right on the clocks Terminator plus look in the ad I just took these close up pictures this week to the terminator on top of my rack and compared them to a Audiophile in our
large Audiophile club , Exact.  Where the 12th was not a valid upgrade IMO ,upgrade IEC ,better silver wiring and transformers a bit better . The Gen 15. is a evolutionary upgrade, the New engineers thought the Enyo, Ares worth the upgrades , the Pontus,stepped into the Venus , and Terminator to the plus ,a great strategic move and save $1000s in engineering costs ,and the buyer benefits ,at least the ones who are technical ,that is why I pointed this out. next year maybe a Terminator 15+ , at the moment the Terminator Gen-15 is the current flagship it says so on their website  I am using this with a Gaia and or Hermes DDC trying to see if it’s worth the extra $500 for the Gaia  .maybe 2-3% better Maybe. I hope that helps .

I recently got a new Terminator 15th. I have been "shopping" for my next DAC for over a year to replace my Venus II. I was being careful to get something I would feel was an upgrade and would be good enough to stop my desire for more, I cannot afford it anymore being retired with limited disposable income. I was interested a long time ago in getting a Terminator plus because I was curious about the ability to take advantage of the clock snyc feature with the Hermes I already have. I also own a pretty good I2s cable, the Tubulus Argentus so this seemed like the most logic step, but that $7600 price kept me from it. Once the Terminator 15th became available and is basically a Terminator + I became more serious about it. I contacted @audioman58 about one and decided to make the buy from him. I have been running it constantly since I got it with my Aurender N200 streaming Qobuz. I have 100 hours on it now. I bought Oyaide DB 510 clock cables because they get good feedback, they are not a compromise for this intended use. I am sure there are better clock cables but this will have to do for now, I spent all I can. I can say I am absolutely thrilled with this Terminator 15th DAC. It is exactly what I was hoping for and has the inherent Denifrips House sound but just a LOT better han the Venus II. I always felt the Venus II was good and it is, but holy cow this new DAC is just giving me what I wanted. Here are some of my notes in comparison to the Venus II I had. (I sold it before the Terminator arrived)

Terminator 15th

Realistic timbre to instruments and vocalists, just so real!.

Bass is deeper but more defined and textured,it surprises me how it jumps out so realistically

More holographic and airy around instruments and vocalists-I can hear them so easily now

clearer separation of voices coming from the background

Get up and Boogies, music has great drive and tempo

Realism, palpable, I can just listen for hours on end

comes from Quiet

soundstage bigger, hearing well outside the speakers now, deeper too

piano is so real

delicate overtones, reverberations and decays

smoother

So this is what I am hearing for now. My system is in my profile. i must say that with what I am done with cabling recently I am really hearing the changes i make now more easily. So FWIW this is my perspective. I was so very close to buying a T+A DAC 200 but this new pricing tipped the scales for me, I am happy with my purchase. I just prefer the R2R sound for me.

@audioman58 I know that the new terminator 15 is the old terminator plus.   I spoke to you on the phone a few days ago about the new terminator15 you said that there have been some upgrades in the last couple of years.  Can you go over these upgrades in the a post.  Where the upgrades when Denafrips came out with the 12th edition models or after.  I am also just curious if the DAC has changed since people have reviewed the DAC.  

Yes the new engineers thought That from a engineering stand point last fall they upgraded to lower noise regulators ,better tolerances in certain capacitors in key areas and higher performance clocks ,especially the oven controlled clocks,

by doing this they could save well over $100 k  in R&D  just to move 

from the Pontus to Terminator up one mode just look at the Venus 15 for example 

a whole new much Bigger case and at 42 lbs ,on the Terminator now it clearly 

shows on the sealed shieldedDual Oven Clocks - Terminator Plus on the cover 

The only difference no machined rounded front plat or cover . It’s all very apparent if you cross reference , and a $12-$1400 savings to the consumer vs last years model it’s a win win for Denafrips as well as the consumer.

Just in time for the new year.  Denafrips just announced the pre-release of a Terminator Plus 15th.  Pre order price $8,099.  New sales price $8,599.  New discounted price, prey tell.  Wonder what the differences will be?