W4S or Rega Dac - Opinions Wanted

My friend and I compared the W4S DAC II against the Rega DAC in my system, which is Manley Stingray II tube amp with Merlin TSM-MXr speakers. If you hunt around you can probably find my comments, but we found the top end of the W4S a bit much and the Rega's soundstage was just broader.
My friend still owns the W4S, which he uses in a smaller system. He feels the top end got smoother over many hours and he even preferred it over the EE Minimax Plus, which he then sold. We both did a lot of comparing of DACs and he ended up with a Rega, but also continues to use a more expensive ARC DAC. My key findings are quite simple: Differences between good DACs are very subtle, perhaps to be equated to the differences between good DSLR cameras. I think most people would be shocked to hear how well the Dacmagic compares to those costing much more, and that's one of many examples.

Cheers,

Rob

I have the DacMagic and the PS Audio DL III. I like the PS DL L III better overall. It is a bit smoother than the DacMagic and produces a better soundstage with greater density in the sound field. However, I think that the Dac Magic is excellent and absolutely a best buy.

I tried the Rega Dac but felt it was a bit too far to the 'polite' side. Dac's are very 'system dependent'.

What about upgrading your music hall? take a look at this.

The DACMagic with the P100 PS is a somewhat changed animal...much improved.

Thanks.
I researched upgrades for my Music Hall but the ones that made the most sense were pretty expensive.
I’m not leaning towards trying out the w4s dac-1. I figure if the dac-1 is not what I expected, it has a recognized name and should retain most of it’s resell value.