Would be around 550USD, even less if there is a drop for it
Hmm that does sound like the better deal here. Personally I am not the biggest fan of the thx amps, but that seems like the best value
What about a topping? Like the dx7 pro? If you can buy directly from China for decent. That would outperform the smsl and not have the sterile thx quality to it.
Would be around 600-650USD
Oh ok. Yeah it’s about 600 here so that’s not a horrible price. If it were in budget, I would personally think it would be a better value for 50 dollars over the smsl combo. It would have more personality than a THX amp and you could still run the dac as a line out for another amp down the road if you wanted.
Hmmm, what do you think about either the Topping or the Aune S7?
The reason I listed the Aune at all is because there is a local shop selling it for under 500USD
So imo the main complaints I typically have with the aune and topping are that they have fairly high output impedance, but for your most of your headphones you should be alright as they are mainly higher impedance phones. My pick would be the aune s7 pro, I would prefer it to the topping amp and the thx