The arrival of the Pontus II totally changed my system.
My preference always has been listening to cds and because of that I always had several cd players and dacs to enjoy my more than 4000 cds collection - mainly jazz and 60’ and 70’s rock. On a hard drive I also have more than 3000 albums on flac files.
The red book standard is very good to my ears, and after making some comparisons, in the end, I only have a handful of high resolution files in my collection.
The Naim cd5x + flatcap2x power supply is one of my favorite machines to listen to cds and even those with HDCD coding. Very natural and robust sound. Others are the Rega Saturn (for the way that delivers a organic and free fatiguing sound) and the Parasound B/CD 2000 and D/AC 1100HD, a high quality belt drive transport and dac combo (for the power of delivery and warmth). The streamer is the excellent Auralic Aries Femto, connected to a high quality NAS drive.
All of this are far away from the usual harsh and hard sound of digital, and I was very happy and needing no more....
I also had a Chord Qutest mainly to work with the Auralic and a Cambridge CXC cd transport...
But then I read all the reviews about the Pontus II and decided to order one without listening and all changed in a way I only thought that was only reserved for the uber high-end.
Wow!
Now I believe that I am truly listening what it is on the records, in an analog like, non-fatiguing way. There is a huge soundstage on a silent background, with the voices and instruments portrayed in a natural and realistic way.
It has been more than 3 months since the Pontus II arrived and now is becoming a problem, because I can not do anything else on my free time than listening to music.
All the other digital sources are aside, because I can’t go back.
The Pontus II is highly recommended.
Thanks Denafrips and Alvin Chee for all the support and excellent customer service.
Credit: Vasco @ Portugal
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