He hasn’t really said. I’d say probably something somewhat neutral until he really knows what he wants. It’s not like this will be the last dac 
Don’t see many at or under 2k. I’ll keep an eye out.
Here’s an OG for $1900. Not sure if that’s a good price or not.
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Current going rate for SE version at Lampizator Poland is 2000 Euros, and that’s usually a bit less than they tend to show up used in the US.
Though with the Amber 4 being available, he might luck out.
Exogal Comet, out of production, show up occasionally.
I see a few Gold Note DS-10’s at what look to be good prices (I think they were just superseded by the Evo version), and he could add the PSU-10 later. I’ve never heard one, but it was recommended to me at one point by a dealer.
Denafrips Pontus 2 - I think @Hazi59 has or had one
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One of those up for sale right now.
Could also go with something like a Qutest, or a used Hugo 2. Maybe try to find a Ferrum Erco?
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I’ve sent him this, the og from tmr, Hugo 2 for 1.6k , so he has options.
Thanks to everyone for the help. He should be content with one of these.
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If he can find one of those Mojo v2xa floating around those were lows $1ks. Def more warm and fun.
Lampi is hard to dispute as well if he can get one in his range.
That comet is an interesting offering, if the pre amp works as I think he may be able to use it to control volume then dime the volume on the studio B which also sounded better to my ears.
Oh actually i just saw him post on SBAF too. Which means in the end he will have a Yggy 
. It seems he is very new, no transport and only has a few flac files on his PC.
Most are pushing him towards trying lower end dacs and getting his ears wet first, which is probably good advice.
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Oh cool. Yeah I told him to start a little lower. Oh well.
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For various reasons the Studio T hasn’t gotten a lot of play time over the last few months.
Between loaning out the Total DAC, listening to my DIY amp, and more recently injuring my neck.
I sat down in front of it tonight for the first time in probably a couple of Months, it’s always interesting to rediscover pieces. And when I had the AIC here, i swapped it over to a SE connection, and it’s a significant improvement, not going through the input transformers.
It really is an astonishingly good 2A3 Amp, it’s insanely quiet.
What I realized listening this evening makes it so compelling a listen for me at least is its grip and control, it’s just extremely articulate. The shape of plucked notes, the overall timbre, the fact that it exhibits that grip over the entire frequency range, a lot of tube amps, get a bit wooly in the bass, but it just never lacks control.
I can appreciate some people want a more midrange forwards sound, or more Bass presence, but I really do think that would compromise what it really is.
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Craig does this extremely well. Others say they do but the B sounds like it is off with the volume maxed and music paused. I am sure the T is same if not better in this regard.