AQUA Acoustics Quality LinQ Network Interface, La Diva M2 CD Transport and Formula xHD Rev.2 DAC
The Purist Approach to Digital
The Editor-in-Chief Robert Harley from The Absolute Sound magazine had the "full stack" of Aqua Acoustic Quality digital front end for a review. It would be and understatement to say he was impressed!
Full review was published in the May/June 2024 edition of The Absolute Sound.
"In one of the sidebars, I draw a broad conceptual analogy between R/2R ladder DACs and single-ended triode amplification. Both have the advantage of simplicity and very little signal manipulation, along with a reputation for delivering good sound despite their markedly inferior technical performance. I formed that analogy before listening to the Aqua products. That analogy turned out to be surprisingly prescient in many ways. That’s because the Aqua stack has an unmistakable sonic characteristic that is very much like that of an SET amplifier—a directness of expression, a sense of vividness and presence through the mid-band, a naturalness of timbre, and the sense of a scrim being removed between you and the music."
"There was simply an immediacy and sense of life that were the antitheses of dark, closed-in, veiled, or thick. This vibrant quality gave the sound an “illuminated from within” character (Jona than Valin’s evocative phrase) that produced a close approximation of instruments and voices appearing in the listening room.""Aqua stack’s bass repro duction was fabulous—deep, powerful, and extended without a hint of bloat or thick ness. It managed to sound full and weighty yet still be light on its feet dynamically. "
"The Aqua Acoustic Quality LinQ Network Player, Diva 2 CD Transport, and Formula DAC possess a naturalness and realism that make them sound different, and in many ways better, than other digital."
