I very recently bought (then had a change of heart and returned) a Topping E70. Per ASR it measured spectacularly well, right near the very top end of everything they’ve ever tested. And I noticed nothing in terms of sound, other than it added 60ms of lag. The paired L70 amp also ran way hotter than the Monolith dac/amp I was replacing.

I liked the aesthetics of the E70 / L70 stack, it felt premium in a way that I think counts for something. Placebo is part of the listening experience, and I’ve come to terms with that. But for $1000 bucks (CAD) it just wasn’t worth it.

I have a newfound appreciation for the fact my Monolith runs cold, and also it has a feature called “dynamic range compression” that I’ve come to like for gaming, because it softens the sharpness of loud noises that otherwise hurt my ears. For me it’s about quality of life features like the DRC, and about reliability (the reason I prefer the Monolith over various cheaper and smaller options is because it doesn’t drop out or crash, problems I’ve had repeatedly with other devices).