Anyone with experience with ECdesigns PowerDACs?

I'm probably on of the few SBAF members with an ECdesigns dac in my house. They don't seem very popular on this site. About 6 years ago I bought their $600 MOS 16 dac and while it didn't beat out my better, more expensive dacs, it sounds nice and ended up in my 3rd system.

Recently, I was playing that system and wondered what ECdesigns was up to since I hadn't visited their website in a long time. When I did, I found really interesting, out of the box ideas. In particular, their PowerDAC-SX can power speakers without benefit of amplifiers. They have eliminated the pre-amp and power amp and the interconnects in between leaving a much shorter analog chain.

They explain how it works here;

https://ecdesigns.nl/2024/07/11/no-pre-amplifiers-in-the-signal-path-at-all/

Alas, it is beyond my current audio budget to try. So the question is;

1. Does anyone hear have any experience with any of the PowerDACs and have you had a chance to compare it to other equipment we might know?
2. If no one has experience, is this something worthy of a loaner tour?

 

did you see these threads? https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/ec-designs-multi-bit-dac.7170/
https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...ecialities-masturbatory-conjecture-talk.9776/

unfortunately the OP committed internet harakiri

 

Thanks for pointing those out. I was aware of the first thread and even contributed a short post but I had missed the masturbation thread. In the link in my earlier post, he tries to address some of the questions brought up by the masturbation thread but, as always from them, no measurements and almost no specs. All we really know is that it is a high voltage, multi-bit dac that is claimed to be able to drive speakers.

As others have said before, I would want someone to independently and skeptically review it. All the marketing noise doesn't mean anything if it doesn't sound good. That's why I was asking if anyone had heard it.