hello Jay,
my above post is now a year old, so things have changed in my system. last June i moved on to the MSB Select II (33 Femto clock and 2 power supplies). but the MSB is not really a direct competitor for either of those dacs, although they are not as far away performance-wise as the price might indicate.
all that said, i continue to have great respect for both the Lampi GG and the Aqua Formula dac. my preference a year ago for the Formula over the GG had mostly to do with it's attributes being more synergistic with my system and personal preferences, than any lacking in the GG. my system exposes any sort of artifact as such, and rewards linearity, detail and refinement. the Formula also was a solid state dac with a full weighty mid range and plenty of tonal density. the GG was wonderful and beautiful to listen to and of course, you could roll the tubes to flavor the sound to your liking, but it would bring it's own sound signature to everything, whereas my preference is for the gear to not impose any sameness.
so this is a case, not of better or worse, but what fits a system.
i see you have vinyl, and tube amplifiers. i owned the Thoress Phono Enhancer briefly and love their stuff. it depends on what sort of sound you want from a dac. both would fit in your system, but differently.
also; the Aqua Formula is modular, and had an upgrade recently, although i've not heard that upgrade. and Lamplizator is famous for lots of upgradability. so either dac would be highly recommended by me.
and btw; if you get the GG i still have a bunch of great tubes from my Lampi days i would give someone a screaming deal on. and these are mostly barely used. tube rolling is part of the fun.
good luck.
