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Denafrips Terminator reliability?

I'm about to pull the trigger on a new DAC and I've narrowed my list to the Denafrips Terminator.  I was looking at Aqua La Scall MKII Optologic, but it's a bit out of my price range.  Also looked at PS Audio DS Sr but I think it will be a bit too analog or laid back for my setup:

Blusound Node 2 > Balanced Audio Technology VK33SE > Emotiva XPR2 > Revel Salon 2 and JL F113 subs

The BAT is on the darker side and the Salon 2's are very neutral.  I'm afraid the DS Sr would take me further to the laid back side.  I'm looking for a DAC with a bit more of an in your face presentation.  Watching Darko's review and reading many other online reviews, the Terminator seems to fit the bill.  But this then brings me to my concern.  They no longer have a US based service center.  So if I had any issues, I'd have to send the thing to Singapore or China for warranty repair.  

For those Terminator owners out there, has anyone had any issues with the unit causing a warranty repair?  Or know of anyone who has had to use it?  

Any other DAC options in the 4-5K range that would give that front row presentation that I missed?  Lumin T2 and Auralic Vega G1 were on my radar as well, but I decided I wanted to go dedicated DAC first, and now.  Then get a new dedicated streamer later.  Maybe a Lumin U1 or Innuos Zen.
snafujg
17 responses Add your response
sonicjoy
146 posts
 
Have a read through this thread if you haven’t already: http://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/denafrips-dac-owner-impressions-feedback-general-discussion-que?highlight=denafrips%2BDAC
There are compairisions to all the DACs you mentioned. Terminator comes out on top for most.
Im looking to get one soon as well. Im sold after all my research. Just wish I could try one first but not really posible.

You might look at the Holo Audio Spring DAC’s They are also R2R. They get very good reviews like the Denafrips.
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snafujg OP
34 posts
 
I hope Denafrips is back this year. I missed them in 2018 at Axpona. 
facten
2,878 posts
 
Have you listened to the Aqua La Voce S3 ? I bought one a couple of months ago , have around 300 hours on it , really nice sounding. (mfg suggested break-in period is 200-300 hours)
snafujg OP
34 posts
 
@facten I have not listened to the La Voce S3.  I don't have any Aqua dealers in the Chicagoland area.  But from what I've read in my research, the La Voce comes in under the Terminator.  The La Scala is the one on par with the Terminator, but is $3k more than the Terminator.
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
@snafujg Reach out to @alvin1118 (Alvin of Vinshine Audio). He will be able to address your question and concern directly.

I have found dealing with Singapore and DHL has been fast (faster than within the U.S.) and Vinshine has been a pleasure to deal with.

Should you have specific questions about the Terminator, feel free to reach out via private message.

For those Terminator owners out there, has anyone had any issues with the unit causing a warranty repair?

divertiti
225 posts
 
Get the Terminator, it's really high value, you'll need to get up to $10k+ before beating it handily. 
rdoc
92 posts
 
+1  The Terminator is a fabulous dac.  It handily outperformed the PS Audio DS in my system.
relaks
63 posts
 
"But from what I've read in my research, the La Voce comes in under the Terminator. The La Scala is the one on par with the Terminator, but is $3k more than the Terminator."

Emm, the thing is, DACs are not sprinters. They are not all running in the exact same direction )). 
thenewguy007
38 posts
 
I never seen anyone post they had problems with their Terminator DAC. The build quality of it is incredibly high.
d2girls's avatar
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d2girls
1,029 posts
 
Like most dac’s they’ll work flawlessly unless there is a catastrophic failure. I know for a fact that the distributor for Denafrips is very courteous and even if you bought one second hand he would go way out of his way to service it. Just email Vinshine if you don't believe me.The thing is built like a tank, there isn’t much like it in terms of heroic build quality even at 2-3 times its price.
richard_crl032
29 posts
 
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/old-king-of-r2r-dac-is-dead-denafrips-terminator-plus-terminator-arr...

https://redirect.viglink.com/?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_159365378073310&key=1e99669452acedd7650a...

Hi,

While is usd2k more than the standard Denafrip that I previously owned, the improvement of Terminator-Plus is much more than any upgrade in power cords, interconnects, speaker cables, power regenerator etc. can do for my system.

I had the luxury of having the demo unit for 1 week but it only took the usual warm up of about an hour to know that I wanted it.

In comparison, the standard Terminator sounds veiled which I would have never thought is an adjective to describe it.

Midbass and bass are tighter which makes all genres more tuneful or I dare say more obvious PRAT that makes my system more musical and I feel more of the reported 23hz of my Salon 2 speakers.

Highs and midranges together with midbass and bass notes are easier to be differentiated and simply "pops" ... not sure if due to yet another 3db improvement in the SNR ratio at now 137db or its another another 2db improvement in its dynamic range.

Cheers.

Richard
yyzsantabarbara
4,811 posts
 
The SNR is 127 db. If it was 137 that would be quieter than my preamp. Nevertheless, 127 db is pretty good.

https://www.denafrips.com/specs-terminator-plus

This unit is now the same price as the AudioByte VOX stack, VOX | ZAP | HUB. Love to have a comparison of the 2. One obvious guy to do that would be OCDGuy but he hates DT now.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Another option is the Holo Spring dac similar to the Denfrips.
Good review here  https://www.stereophile.com/content/holoaudio-spring-kitsun%C3%A9-tuned-edition-level-3-da-processor
I've heard the level one on my system as was very surprised with my RedBook collection, especially in NOS mode which can be selected on the fly from OS mode or even DSD.

Cheers George
jriggy's avatar
jriggy
563 posts
 
yyz, a vid by him would tell us nothing, not to mention his predetermined biases you mention. 
richard_crl032
29 posts
 
Hi yyz,

Oops .. thanks for the correction that 137db is for dynamic range while SNR is 127db.

Darko just posted 11 hours ago but just like wwe.monosteteo.com, it again missed one key difference of the Terminator Plus having clock output to sync compatible source to ita ocxo. This is notable to me as it further improves sound quality when I tested with the Denafrip Avatar.

Cheera.

Richard
kw6
692 posts
 
I recently got the Ares II and love what R2R can do to 0&1s. Yes, Holo May Level 1 would definitely should be on the list. I was almost going to buy a old dac chip with an output tube stage but glad went to R2R. While popular Dacs like Border Patrol or Orchid may sound nice I don't think they can achieve the resolution. An analogy would be Plasma tv vs OLED. OLED being R2R.
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