To sum up first impressions, the Elyse grouped a quite unique set of features. It was detail oriented and transparent but still round, making for a very easy-going, effortless and fatigue-free character. LampizatOr's best was a bit darker. A result of this might have been its blacker background or stronger contrast. This benefits resolution. A side effect is that it could appear slower but that's a misreading. The Golden Gate is actually faster, with larger more expressive blunter dynamic contrasts. It paints on a bigger scale than the Elyse. This was easily heard on the opening of The Proclaimer's "I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)" and shortly after when the soundstage rapidly expands. Similar observations came from Kodo's "Daraijin" and other material. My friend Jacek is a happy Reimyo owner. He uses Trenner&Friedl Isis speakers on a daily basis and reviewed the Elyse as well. Jacek pointed out that the superior dynamic contrast of the Polish DAC might be a manifestation of its tonal centre being placed lower than in the Elyse. Or, the chosen tubes might be the cause. Since I had no substitute WE101, my status quo remained unchallenged. To confirm or deny my findings, it was simply high time to do some equipment rolling and triangulate.

Next in line then were the hornloaded Polish towers paired with Nelson Pass' latest creation, the F7. The remainder of the setup didn't change. The JWS Ifaisteio is a peculiar most immediate and nearly pro monitor which can come across most forceful, nearly garish in fact. Its flat truthy character isn't helped by undersaturated stiffer company. Hence my choice of FirstWatt F7 as a charming antidote. Still, I found it impossible to predict just how the Polish towers would respond to the Elyse's more energetic treble. As it happened, the association became more intense than with the W8 which was fully expected. Though plenty of data flew around, the overall taste wasn't unduly sharp. The high end actually gained in decay lengths and smoothness. There was clear sparkle but no razor's edge. I had to tip my hat at the Elyse/F7 cooperation for emphasizing musicality over stiffness and edging whilst taming the Ifaisteio's super informative angular nature. With the Golden Gate, the brightest stage lights dimmed a bit and so did the expressive very direct character of the speaker. Personally, I welcomed these changes. But to be fair, that was a matter of taste. Fans of pronounced detail would favour the Elyse, those craving a more refined calmer sound would go after its costlier rival. On soundstage scale, I had a repeat of the W8. The Golden Gate cast the more enormous stage. Still, what the Elyse/F7 combo did for those fussy speakers was a job well done. Synergy. The monitor-like incisiveness toned down, pleasure toned up, no victims were left along the way such as resolution, impact or punch. Bravo.

My final round teamed up the Norwegian H160 integrated as power amp with the Czech Walnut monitors whose bandwidth is neatly trimmed on either end to be both pleasant and involving in a quasi vintage Sonus faber way. How would the Elyse get on with the dense Xavians? My seemingly reasonable worries turned out to be misplaced. Nothing untoward happened. Dan's machine raised the overall resolution of the Perla but did so in style. The treble was smooth, effortless, present and without excess. Perhaps if I'd used the F7, something would have tipped by adding dense atop already thick and musical. Alas, I forgot to check on that until the Elyse was already a goner and the next reviewer in no mood to return her to me for even a day.

In any case, the Perla endured the additional warmth which the Elyse contributed below the treble. It's merely a guess but if Dan's deck had been less transparent, perhaps this pairing would have gotten veiled and fuzzy. Yet nothing of the sort transpired and that was simply a fact. The Hegel 160 provided the power to make the Perla sing, the Elyse added informative highs and texturing for perfect teamwork. This wasn't quite as synergistic as it had been with the JWS Ifaisteio but still a good cooperation. By contrast, the LampizatOr was darker again, calmer and less energetic. On the Czech boxes, this also ended up with thicker yet punchier more pronounced bass. The soundstage expansion reoccurred but less effectively since the Perla, to my ears, perform best in the nearfield.

Conclusion. A shopper prepared to spend $500 on a source won't pursue one at thrice that. Such an offset is about products from different quality tiers. Status changes shift when many 1'000s of dollars come into play. Now one talks of diminishing returns which occasionally can manifest very painfully and ruthlessly. To assess how much of that factors if at all, comparisons even as stretched out on price as I did here are justified. Turned around, if sonic gains are unduly small given far higher costs, perhaps it's more effective to allocate such resources to a better speaker or amplifier than a super dear D/A converter. It's the combined effect which counts when all the puzzle pieces come together with the fewest missing bits.

To put it plain, ModWright's Elyse put up an amazing fight against what I consider one of the best converters currently made. That in itself was quite the feat. By implication, it automatically positioned the ModWright at a very high level. Just so, certain differences transcended the different and moved into the plainly better even if listener expectations about tonal balance and saturation still factor. Some would prefer the Elyse if it better fit their current setup, never mind the cost savings. That's just how it goes. The Elyse will inject new life into systems that are a bit sluggish and not very resolved. Besides which, there's no shame in falling one or two steps behind LampizatOr's flagship on a few counts – no shame at all. For me, the ModWright Elyse wasn't merely executing a sonic repair service but was much more versatile than that. It found its way into three very different setups and each and every time presenting itself with real class. With its inherent perception baggage of warmth piled on further with its choice of valve rectifier, it stood as proof that a fully tube-based converter can also be detailed, resolved and quick yet still easy-going, effortless and joyful. To my ears this grouping of terms paraphrases the Elyse precisely. It breaks certain tube stereotypes and Dan clearly knows what he's doing. His design looks stunning and build quality plus extensive tube rolling options are additional cherries on top. By comparison to the $18'000 Golden Gate, having his sticker not cause a heart attack is an additional bonus. My flag of admiration thus sat at the top of the pole. True, I'd personally part with the additional cash to secure my place in the LampizatOr camp just because I've over time deeply familiarized myself with its qualities and built a system around them which happen to ring all my bells. But if one had a lot less to spend and looked for an Elyse-type sonic profile… then this ModWright should be a keeper for many years to come.

ModWright website