Metrum Onyx versus Metrum Pavane

Had an Onyx, have a Morpheus currently sitting in customs. 

What made you like the L3 more than Morpheus? I also had a PS Audio DirectStream Jr and really enjoyed it, but the preamp section was just horrible and very flat when compared to a proper preamp. Have heard Metrum/Sonnets preamp to be much better.

@mitch2 I’m in a spot now with a Schiit Gungnir Multibit and Metrum Onyx. I’ve touched on the differences on another forum ( https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/metrum-acoustics-onyx-balanced-dac-and-jade-balanced-dac-pre.5181/page-12#post-254964) but the short story is that I find Onyx lacks bass authority, slam and texture but I prefer it to the Schiit product for more-or-less everything else.

Now I’m eyeing up Pavane L3/Adagio and thinking "will the bass improve enough that it’s worth it?" Any insights would be great!

Yep. Even still with that in mind there isn't a clear winner. Different, not better.

Thanks for your input! I have read a few times now that the preamp section in the Metrum units (and it's exactly the same in Jade and Adagio according to Metrum) is of very high quality. I use a tube preamp so it could be more of a case of different than better here as well. In my setup now, the Gungnir can certainly deliver bass impact/slam/authority so it's capable. Though I'm sure I will always wonder how the volume section compares and end up with Adagio anyways. 

What buffer preamp do you have? What did it bring to the table that you felt Adagio->power amp was lacking?