Holo Audio May DAC

My only concern is if there is a problem with the unit.  Per Tim at kitsunehifi, re: failures

"It's a case by case basis, depending on what's wrong with we will either repair it at no cost, or customer pays shipping/repair or send parts. IE if the USB module is damaged (not by the manufacturer) we can send you a USB module for repair. It is a module design which makes most repairs relatively simple.

The warranty covers shipping for 30 days.

If for some reason the DAC is DOA we will replace, it would be shipped to Hong Kong, and you would either be credited or have a new unit shipped back to you.
For other minor repairs, it would be shipped to Lynwood, WA. We've replaced relays on the board as well as USB modules for various products.

In general if you do not know what's wrong with it, you would ship to Lynwood, WA and we will determine the cause of failure. "

I’m 70 years old, and am losing use of my hands for stuff like repairs.  But. It’s the DOA and major repair thing that mostly bugs me.  It has to go back to Hong Kong?  Not repaired in the US?  I absolutely LOVE everything I have read about the May, except repairing it.  I have a lot of thinking to do on this.  

Tarheelneil: the May is really well packed and protected (at least in Europe), so DOA is highly unlikely. And IME, a dac is unlikely to need repairs. I would worry about a CD player or transport, but not a dac. And if it does need repair, I have experienced great service so far from Magna Hifi in Europe (don’t know about the US distributor), so I am not worried.

Not sure if it matters but I tracked my May from China via DHL - it took less than 3 days (to NY) to get it - door to door. I just shipped my DS to the Music Room in Colorado via Fed Ex Ground - sent it on Tuesday. Scheduled to arrive Monday. 50 - 60 -70 - you’ll be fine...

Hey cudfoo, yes indeed, it’s sublime. I am sure there’s better, but probably at two or three times the price.
It’s just so much better than the DS in terms of decay, soundstage, tonality. You are literally transported to the recording location and time. Right now, I am in Jesus Christus-Kirche in Berlin with Karajan and Eschenbach.
As long as you don’t knock the DS (beware the cult of Ted 😉 and his fanboys), posting your impressions on the PSA website is fine, people do it all the time. I would just avoid comparisons.

I was going to wait until I had a full week of burn-in before I did any extended listening with the May KTE, but I turned on the amp yesterday around the 24-hour mark to see how things were going.  There was still some significant abrasiveness on the top-end and the bass was a bit muddy, but I was also noticing that the sound stage and overall resolution had started to clean up.  

I left my amp on for the next 8 hours and could hear more and more improvement coming through.  The issues with the treble and bass were slowly fading as well.  I know it’s cliche, but I started hearing elements in songs that I had never noticed before in either my PS Audio DSD or Lumin T2.  In terms of the overall presentation (at least as of yesterday), I would say the sound was a lot closer to the T2 than the PSA DSD.  The soundstage wasn’t as forward nor had the same weight as the PSA DSD.  

I’m looking forward to hearing how it sounds after I get back home in a few days.