The third option looks not balanced for me: 1,3 k dac and 5,6 k in server/ reclocker.
I tend to think that the dac should be the most important part.
IMHO.
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I think we’re well aware of your views on Chord DACs. I very much doubt you’ve heard the Phoenix so your opinion is based on what? Cost? Some weird idea that components have to cost broadly the same? That financial balance equals musical balance? Not quite sure where you’re coming from to be honest. There are few massive leaps of you go from a £1,200 DAC to what? A DAC in the range of £2,000 to £4,000? I see few DACs worthy of more than the Qutest until you get to £4,000. Source first.
Interesting that when I spoke to Innuos their preferred DAC with my suggestions above was… Qutest.
Qutest doesn’t have a remote - the Hugo2, TT2 and NDX2 - as examples with remotes.
A small point but if you actively switch sources e.g. from TV to/from streamer/bridge, then it is worthy of consideration.
You can think what floats your boat on my personal views. It’s the rule of the forum.
The Phoenix is like a very expensive cable, with the same goal as the Audiophileo Usb /Spdif converter. It will not turn an 1k dac into something much more revealing. The Phoenix is about noise canceling.
You are right, I tend to rely cost and effectiveness, because in 95% of the cases it’s true.
The Hugo is more expensive and better, same for Dave.
I am quite sure that Zenith / Hugo TT will sound better than Zenith/ Phoenix/ Qutest.
I have the right to share here my opinions, my sweetie. Even if it bothers you.
I have heard a lot of equipment during the last 25 years, owned a lot of different sources too. But don’t say I tell the truth. It’s my feeling.
Before we had cd transports and dacs, and the logic was the same. Nobody had a CEC TL0 transport with an entry level dac.
I think you need to read up on the phoenix as it does far more than you suggest it does. As I own one so I can also assure you it have more impact on the sound than you say it does.
Oy issue I would have with the quetest is that you are stuck with the line level output. Ony 282 I find that to be too high and on my TT2 and on the Hugo 2 I had before that I was able to attenuate the output using the in built pre. It may not be am issue for someone else on a different amp though
The quetest is a Hugo 2 without the headphone amp. I’d be surprised if they sound much different. If I had a choice though between innuos zenith, phoenix and quetest or innuos zenith and TT2 I’d easily choose the latter. The phoenix will not bridge the gap between the Hugo 2 and the TT2. I have very recently tried both those options, along with others you’re looking at in the same system. You are not that far from me, if you’d like to hear you are very welcome to visit at some point if it will help
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I agree on your point, would choose Zenith/ Hugo TT as it feels more balanced. And we agree also that the Phoenix will not fill the gap between Hugo 2 and TT2.
In any case Mike’s ears will decide and be the most objective listening opinion.
We can only share our inner intuitions.
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Nope, I’m contradicting his argument that the phoenix works like an expensive cable and also his assertion that the Hugo is better than the quetest, it isn’t. However, the whole chain counts and I personally would prioritise the TT2 over a phoenix because it is a better dac than the Hugo and the qutest and it still offers the same or more upgrade options
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Hello Mike. I heard Innuos Zen- Phoenix - Hugo2 (not Qutest but I think DAC bit is same as Hugo2) on 552/500 system and sound was really excellent.
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My first foray onto this thread last night…wonder if this loss of enjoyment of your HiFi coincided with you stopping running 
!
There are plenty of good dealers in the Greater Manchester area and with a month off over Christmas, there is plenty of opportunity to do some serious damage to your wallet.
Good luck, and if you get to hear the X Sabre Pro I’d be interested to hear your views as it is one that I like the look of.
Thanks everybody for taking the time to offer your considered responses. Apologies if I miss anyone out but I’ll try and respond to each of you in turn.
@T-elmi yes I’m aware there’s no remote. Absolutely not a deal-breaker for me. The 202 is about 5 steps away from my listening position. As middle age moves on I tend to choose movement over non-movement when the choice arises.
You are of course welcome to contribute your opinion @frenchrooster but I’m not sure you help yourself when you suggest the Hugo is better than the Qutest when it’s well known to be exactly the same DAC. That’s compounded by making assertions about things you’ve not heard such as the Phoenix. I think the comments from @dayjay have more credibility here.
The world would of course be very dull if none of us could offer views on things outside of our experience but the Qutest/Hugo comment suggests you didn’t even know they’re the same DAC and have over-stretched slightly.
@dayjay I’m inclined to agree with you that the Phoenix doesn’t seem likely to bridge the gap between a Hugo2 and a TT2 but I’d be interested to know how far it could. A TT2/M-Scaler is much praised but likely beyond my resources. A TT2 may not be if my current slow progress in securing appropriate dems. I may then be afforded the opportunity to do some further saving and I am considering part ex on the CDX2/XPS2 also.
I note the kind offer to visit. We are indeed barely a few miles apart. I don’t drive cos of my eyes but if tiers ever allow…
Disappointingly not had a response from Doug Brady as yet. However, plenty of time to follow up and it would be foolish to pass judgement on any retailer at this moment without knowing their full circumstances.
@WeekendWarrior. No sadly the cessation of running preceded the deterioration by a couple of years. If I can sort the X-Sabre demo I will indeed report back. Other than an AudioScience article I was referred to it seems severely under reviewed so it’s hard to know where it really sits. We’ll have to agree to disagree on “good” dealers in GM. Really not been my experience in the past 28 years with one exception.
I think the interesting thing here is that, understandably, people are concluding that the Innuos x 2 plus Qutest might be an end point. I would see the Innuos boxes as an end point. The DAC I select (and of course until I do dems the NDX2 is still very much in the picture also) may or may not be an end point. The point is that by selecting the Innuos/DAC solution I can see if I like the Qutest. It may do enough to be all I need. If it isn’t then opportunities to trade up will doubtless arise with, as I suggested earlier, £4K being the next realistic stopping off point.
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Yes, I saw the same review and have seen a few others where it is well received. I think bongoman on here uses one in preference to the DAC in his NDX2 in his high end system. It’s on my radar should I decide to upgrade my 272 and no replacement for it arrives - it will work directly from my server so would be relatively cheap as an upgrade.
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Aha, the dealer with whom I’ve been corresponding said they’d sold one to someone using it in preference to an NDX2 internal DAC. I wonder of that us indeed @bongoman?
Hi Mr. Rooster. I have a Qutest, and I’d be surprised if the HugoTT2 doesn’t sound a bit better than the Qutest . In the US the HugoTT2 is double the cost of the Qutest! I use an Auralic Aries G1 as the Steamer, lots of great reviews out there, I think Simon and a few other forum members use Auralic’s as front ends.
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I have a Qutest Mike fed by a Node 2i and I’m starting to wonder if the streamer is that important as this little setup sounds spot on, BluOS app is stable and easy to use too.
Its all too easy to think that a 4k streamer should be better because of its price tag.
Yes, indeed, it may well have been me 
I really like the X-Sabre Pro, it’s a great DAC.
I’ve been using the NDX2 with the X-Sabre Pro for a couple of months now, and without the 555PSDR. I much prefer the simpler setup and sound of NDX2 with Powerline into the X-Sabre.
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts if you sort a demo.
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Hasn’t had one from me…Doh 
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Yes, I will be surprised too if Hugo 2 is not better vs the Qutest. The same dac is not all. Nds and Ndac for example share the same dac. But the implementation is not the same.
All these discussions are interesting, but a fact is: a 5,5 k streamer ( zenith with Phoenix) into 1,3 k dac is not the choice I would make personally. I would choose instead the Innuos mini into Chord TT, with a very good cable between, or Innuos Mini/ Phœnix / Chord TT.
And would try to listen also to other dacs than Chord, to have the choice.
Hi FR,
This is the setup I now have but with a bridge ‘between’ the ZenMiniIII running as a server and the TT2. I have already posted on another thread that I just changed the bridge from an AlloDigiOne Signature to a SonoreOptical Rendu (carrying over the same LPSU), and the ZenMiniIII has the Innuos LPSU and grounding via Entreq - so it’s capabilities are maxed out.
This setup is genuinely sounding very good with all three protocols I use. (The Allo, running MoOde, was very good with UpNP, a bit less with Squeezelite, and worse with roonready - and I use roon all day in multiroom, so it is important to me) .
Also the ZenMini is ‘better’ running streaming services from Qobuz and FLAC radio streams than it is with it’s own local disk storage (possibly due to it’s common power supply arrangements internally). I have heard similar from an owner of a Zenith (multiple internal power feeds) who uses an Audiophilleo USB/SPDIF.
If I were to change anything now in this setup it would be to go to a more powerful specialist server from either Antipodes, Audiostore or SonicOrbiter (i9) - these can run roon DSP, extended multirooms and HQPlayer - the Innuos architecture is a compromise between server and endpoint - and very good it is with Zen/Zenith as long as the demands on the server are limited. HQPlayer is a different architecture but much cheaper than a MScaler.
PS. Apologies to @mikehughescq for slight thread hijack, but good luck with your quest for a Qutest 
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