Any better DAC then dCS Scarlatti?

Perrew, Scarlatti can't be harsh/edged.
It is totally different from harsh/edged.
May be ASR or Focals are harsh/edged, but not dCS.
In some cases dCS can be too warm and too soft, which is opposite to harsh/edged.
That is why I can't trust to your comparision.
I never heard anything about APL before, so can't comment it.
Do you mean that they sell directly?
So, no way to get it for audition in another country?

All I can add is the Scarlatti is one of the finest DACs I have ever heard. All the thoughts on harsh or soft or whatever are about your system or whichever system you are used too.

My time with it has only made me respect it more. At these lofty heights of audio playback, attention to detail in the rest of your system is extremely important and may make or break your experience of it.

The DAC itself is extraordinary. All I feel you could ask for as an audiophile is can it be cheaper with the same performance?

In my system it is sweet, warm and ultra pure. Every aspect of the information put in comes out.

RTN1 - Spoke with Avalon and indeed the Indra is probably the appropriate size for my room. So mine shall stay until I get a bigger room.

Did ask about an Indra Diamond though, that's a definite maybe on that one....

So shifting to the DAC arena, one I am curious about - that receives remarkably little comment here - is the Esoteric D01 DAC...

Any one auditioned a pair? Bueller?....

Murataltuev,

the Focal have sort of unnatural sound from glass foam cone and the ASR is sort of transitorized grainy in some sense, so that might result in some of the findings but it is/was still not so imminent with the other sources I heard together with the same speakers.
About audition in your country you would have to ask APL.

Perrew, I checked the price and you was right! It is very expensive!
Compareable with Scarlatti.