Interesting. The Maria is an integrated (Pre, DAC, Amp and Headphone amp).
The specs for the DAC are thin at best. I don’t see any mention of DSD.
I was just going to ask that. I am sure the analog side of it is great, but was left wanting more on how the DAC works.
Has anyone laid ears on this gear? I remember poking around on the website not too long ago and losing interest because, at that time, there was a single showroom in Venice. Looks like there might be a showroom now in Santa Rosa (nowhere close to me in Illinois). I don’t see an audition at home option, either.
I’ve been to Lone Crow Audio, in Santa Rosa, CA, where you can hear and see the Daniel Hertz gear. It is bespoke gear, as you would expect, but its their speakers that really impressed me. I’m actually considering the M7 if an audition can be arranged prior to the end of my FR20 demo period, although I’m skeptical it would be an upgrade at this point.
The gear is also setup and designed to be used as an all-Daniel Hertz system. He makes bare-wire speaker cables that the demo room has to use for all of the hookups. I will say that the top-of-the-line amp/speaker combo was really really impressive in a full-scale cost-no-object kind of way. The little bookshelf speakers with horn tweeters were surprisingly dynamic for the size.
If anyone is interested, I will be returning my FR20s and purchasing Daniel Hertz M7 speakers – they are a dramatically different design and commensurate different listening experience. Also more $$$!