Banchmark DAC3B vs. Denafrips Pontus II (12th Aniv.)

I have the Pontus II with an ultraRendu streamer.  I love the combination and have never had the pops and clicks issue.  I use it with an Audio Research LS7 preamp, a Rogue Audio stereo 100 amp and Fritz Carrera BE speakers.  I am very happy with this setup and wish you well on your search.

Good for Benchmark. I bought a Jay's cdt2-mk3 from Alvin and I told him personally I couldn't consider any Denafrips dacs no matter how good they are since they offer no remote. Maybe one day that will change.

I had the Pontus and Hestia preamp and tired of their house sound, a personal thing. I moved to the DAC3B and LA4 and could not be happier. It is my endgame system.

Have not heard those, but the Gustard R26 is a very good sounding R2R that I thoroughly enjoy, especially for tracks that are more… “musical” rather than gut punching rock etc..  I find the fast delta sigma to sound better for 24/192 tracks of “busy” songs blasted at, probably too, high SPL.

Sorry if I don’t have all the jargon or terminology down pat.. just saying.. the R26 sounds better than the delta sigma(it is an smsl su-10)  for some music and the delta sigma sounds better for others.

You are comparing a DACs at uneven MSRPs.

If you buy an Ares 2-Had one for a week- you can resell

it for nearly what you paid.  Warranty transfers.