[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by John Jordan

There's a lot out there on this. Some folks prefer the Gumby. I hope to listen to both in the near future but my gut is going with the Gumby.

I like the Schiit phliosophy from design to manufacturing to distribution. Also the user accolades and modular design upgrade paths.

UGGG...I guess I'm a value oriented guy using amps originally designed over 50 years ago.

I also really like Schiit's approach to product design. They really try to be innovative and provide as much functionality and the best possible design they can for the money.

Who else would use a Ciclotron design for an integrated amp, or design an entirely new circuit topology called Pivot Point for Jotunheim? Jason likes to push the boundaries of what is capable with circuit topology design. He's very much an "out of the box" audio designer, much like Nelson Pass.

The user upgrade paths are cool, too. They won't do them until there's a real, practical reason to upgrade a component, but their first DAC, Bifrost, has had three upgrades made available: Uber: a new analog output section, the Gen 5 USB upgrade, and the Multibit upgrade. Pretty dang cool for a DAC that sells in base configuration for $399 (the Uber analog section and the Gen 5 are now included as part of the base configuration).

Personally, I don't see ponying up the extra money for an Yggy. My Gumby sounds quite wonderful.

I'm done, but I'm not going back to delta-sigma DACs, either.