With that email Alvin included these photos. With the left/center board in stereo—we already saw how there's no room for two of them—the single push/pull transistor pair of Exicon lateral Mosfets peeking out through the spy glass duplicate what my Enleum AMP-23R runs. Did this suggest equivalent ~25wpc/8Ω power?

Use mouse-over loupe function; or right-click to open in new window for full size.

The back shows no digital inputs. This is a purely analog machine. Alas, the six-pin K-Link socket will power an expansion module of DAC or Bluetooth/DAC still under development. Hence we only pay for the functionality we want. Back on Denafrips handled by the same sales team, "we're extremely tied up with the FPGA firmware update project to help existing customers re-flash their older DAC models with our most current 12th Anniversary firmware to improve their sound quality. This reduces lip-sync latency; minimizes certain buffer over/underrun issues which some customers experienced with their transports; and improves the sound quality beyond the 2019 upgrade to our DSP processor module. We started this roll-out with our most popular Ares DAC and over the coming months will issue specific firmware patches for the other models. Instruction videos for this can be found on our website." With that detour done…

Muses resistor-ladder-on-a-chip volume controller also popular with Cen.Grand, Ferrum Audio and Pass Labs.

… "Emei includes a standard plastic wand very much like a Xiaomi remote. Customers can also purchase the optional 'designer' remote in full aluminium when available."

The new name CHoco Sound is suggestive of both chocolate and CH for Confoederatio Helvetica so Switzerland. Be it CH Precision, darTZeel, Goldmund, Nagra or Soulution, Swiss hifi is pricey. Getting such sound in Sino currency—euros converted from PRC labor rates and parts costs—is a heady proposition. At the end of the day, in this not a dream world, CH is more realistically short for China. In my book that's an excellent thing which merely continues Kinki's tradition of "we proudly come from China".

My main system runs numerous Chinese-made products from 27" iMac to Singxer SU-6 USB bridge to LHY Audio SW-8 network switch to Cen.Grand Silver Fox head amp to Kinki EX-B7 monos. My upstairs system follows suit with a Shanling M3 Ultra SD card server/streamer, Soundaware D300Ref USB bridge and Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe whilst the Enleum AMP-23R and MonAcoustic SuperMon Mini speakers are from South Korea. Another mini system upstairs runs an smsl USB bridge and LHY Audio linear power supply. My desktop runs a Singxer SU-2 USB bridge and Chinese-made iFi Audio iDSD Signature Pro DAC. If I wanted equivalent quality from EU/US brands, I'd have to a pay a lot more. On a lowly reviewer's salary, that's back in a dream not the real world.