Replacing an IFI Zen, thoughts and tips please?

Equipment / Electronics / Gear / Accessories DACs
1

Hi, I’ve recently upgraded my system with a Rega IO amp and a pair of Q Acoustics 3050i. Both have that British warm sound but somehow I suspected that sound was a bit muffled.

I plugged the more transparent Topping D10 (MkI) and yes, details are clearly more prominent. The problem with the D10 is that it somehow also loses the bigger soundstage of the ZEN. Both things are pretty noticeable to my ear…

So now I’m looking for a more holographic, detailed sound without losing the Zen soundstage. The more bare bones the DAC, the better.

From reviews etc, I think my best bet would be a Geshelli Labs J2 but I also wonder about the Topping D10s.

Any thoughts, please?

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J2 is solid, although in your setup I’d personally consider an allo revolution with the nirvana smps, should give you great clarity along with an improved stage as well, it’s not the widest dac but it has a lot of depth to make up for it, more than the d10 and zen for sure imo (with the nicer psu). The j2 might be a bit wider, but it doesn’t have as much depth and placement accuracy

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Thanks for that, I had never heard about that one. It’s within budget too and can be had from inside the EU :hugs:

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