Hi Grant,
FYI I have received the two Theta PCs and now system looks like:
1. Denali 6000 V2 (Sigma-X XC PC upgraded from Sigma NRv1)
2. Jeff Rowland C500 (Theta PC upgraded from Alpha NRv1)
3. Aqua La Scala Mk2 DAC (Theta PC upgraded from Delta NRv2)
4. Aurender N150 (Delta NRv2 upgraded from Venom NR12)
The Sigma-X XC upgrade happened months earlier so my comments below is purely on the two Theta PCs. As you know I recently changed DAC from the Chord Qutest to the La Scala, which in terms of tonal voicing was a drastic change, from the energetic lively Chord DAC to a tubed DAC. The La Scala is a very dynamic DAC, even more dynamic than Qutest, but it has generous warmth which the Qutest did not. The La Scala DAC did so many things so well that I decided to keep it though had to deal with a modest excess warmth issue w/ the system.
The introduction of the Thetas resolved most of this excess warmth, so that now instead of getting annoyed by excess warmth may 1 in 2 songs, now it happens like 1 in 5 songs, so big improvement. But other than this voicing change, with the Thetas I now get a sense of life-like energy and dynamics in the system that I strained to hear before. Together with a sonic and image clarity that simply makes listening to music a satisfying experience. On some songs the improvement is so substantial that it is tantamount to the effect of a component upgrade. So as usual your advice was spot on – many thanks.
Best regards,
Noel P.