Hi Audioabc, and George,
I own the Pavane and would describe the sound, in short, as natural, detailed, and dynamic. The 0 to 60 factor is very good. As with the Hex, it is not overly syrupy, rich or warm, but rather it is clear while being very natural sounding and never edgy, and still displaying warmth when on the recording.
That said, I auditioned Aqua's LaScala Mk II in my home and found it also to be a very nice sounding DAC. The tube output resulted in a different presentation from the Pavane and I found something not quite as natural sounding (maybe a little forced), which I attributed to the high'ish output of 6V. Subsequent discussions with the importer indicated that some tube rolling would improve on what I heard. It was a close call between the LaScala Mk II and Pavane - comes down to personal preference.
I think the Aqua folks have a good thing going so I would really like to hear the Formula. I have already contacted appropriate folks to get a crack at it once the initial hoopla settles a bit. At $13,800, the Formula is over twice the cost of the Pavane so the LaScala MkII would be a better comparison. I hear there may be some trickle-down improvements planned for LaScala and my discussions with the importer from a year or so ago indicate the Aqua folks are quite committed to providing customers upgrade options to their products when possible.
I own the Pavane and would describe the sound, in short, as natural, detailed, and dynamic. The 0 to 60 factor is very good. As with the Hex, it is not overly syrupy, rich or warm, but rather it is clear while being very natural sounding and never edgy, and still displaying warmth when on the recording.
That said, I auditioned Aqua's LaScala Mk II in my home and found it also to be a very nice sounding DAC. The tube output resulted in a different presentation from the Pavane and I found something not quite as natural sounding (maybe a little forced), which I attributed to the high'ish output of 6V. Subsequent discussions with the importer indicated that some tube rolling would improve on what I heard. It was a close call between the LaScala Mk II and Pavane - comes down to personal preference.
I think the Aqua folks have a good thing going so I would really like to hear the Formula. I have already contacted appropriate folks to get a crack at it once the initial hoopla settles a bit. At $13,800, the Formula is over twice the cost of the Pavane so the LaScala MkII would be a better comparison. I hear there may be some trickle-down improvements planned for LaScala and my discussions with the importer from a year or so ago indicate the Aqua folks are quite committed to providing customers upgrade options to their products when possible.