I upgraded from the Qutest to a Hugo TT2 and then I went back to the Qutest. The Hugo sounded very smooth and light and airy, with it's vocals more forward. It was soft and light sounding compared to the Qutest. I preferred the Qutest as it seemed to have more meat on the bone with a richer sound with slightly more impact. I guess it comes down to your system and personal taste.
Anybody here upgrade from Chord Qutest DAC"
Chord Qutest is a strong contender, especially with linear power supply, but I’m curious about greener pastures, or at least different-colored pastures. Think my system is good enough to notice: ear 868l pre, pass xa30.8, omega alnico Xrs speakers. Streaming only.
Anybody here upgrade from chord qutest with other chord dacs or different brands altogether? What improved, what was lost?
Anybody here upgrade from chord qutest with other chord dacs or different brands altogether? What improved, what was lost?
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- 32 posts total
@redwoodaudio I’m in the same situation. What did you decide? I very briefly looked at your system but could not quickly recognize the DAC . I’m also considering the M-scaler rather than a different DAC. Thanks! By the way, in the past year I bought a new streamer and the improvements have shocked me. Previously I had never believed a streamer made that much difference. It does. I was OP on a thread about my choice. |
txp1, may I ask what streamer did you end up with? I recently bought a Lumin U2 mini and so far the changes are mostly positive but there are some downsides which I suspect is more to the unit requiring break-in and a cheap power cable that’s currently connected to it. I also have the Lumin plugged in to a cheap power strip which I believe is limiting its full potential as well. |
@ryder I bought the Aurender N150. You’ve identified many of your issues. I’d recommend a good power cable as well as a good power strip. And give it lots of listening time burn-in. I could clearly hear changes to 100 hours and more subtle changes far past that. I use a Shunyata Taipan power cable that I had available. I have it plugged directly into my Shunyata Hydra power conditioner. If you need a good power strip I highly recommend the Furutech TP-66 gold or rhodium versions. Any high quality power strip will be an improvement. |
@ryder Also if you decide to buy a new power cable or strip, they are the worst for requiring long burn-in times. Best of patience to you! |
- 32 posts total