Nicely said. I’d add the Aeolus is “musical”. It flows like a live performance. Of the 3 amps in the house it likes the Quicksilver EL84 tube HPA the best.
Pass Whammy driven by Holo Spring 3 KTE DAC is fast and articulate and clear as a bell. All the acoustic corners are crisp, sharp, and well defined. The full meaning of the word “articulate” describes it well. The detail is there and fully present. A good friend also deeply into hifi was over this weekend and he actually preferred the Aeolus on the Whammy over his LCD-4z. Quite a statement.
PS Audio Gain Cell DAC & HPA is a terrific all round single box unit with a remote. Really quite excellent as a first hifi entry or 2nd room system. Its performance is between the Whammy and a quality tube amp. I lent this unit out to a family member and will need to spend more time with the Gain Cell now that the Aeolus is broken in. If you see one of these used for $850-900 just buy it. It’s American made and actually better than most of the other common sub-$1000 stacks we read about.
Quicksilver HPA tube amp driven by Spring 3 KTE DAC is my personal favorite. There is No tubey or gooey bloat with this amp. Its fast and articulate and well defined as the Whammy, but with slightly less edge to the presentation. It flows more like a concert.
Both the Whammy and Quicksilver are equals in absolute high end audio chops. The Whammy pairs great when emersion and drowning in absolute detail is enjoyed. Quicksilver is very engaging and with the Aeolus swims with the detail in a more of a flow. It’s not laidback, just the depth of the corners are not as razor tight.
So far hifi friends over to the house are all surprised by the Aeolus’ performance and equally split on Whammy vs. Quicksilver. Everyone said they would be glad to own either one.