Sounds like you have put a great system together, any chance of posting some pictures soon? .... would love to see those.
I love Sonus Faber, they really make some nice sounding gear ... heard the Stradivari's this year in Montreal ... WOW! unbelievable sound coming through them (all run via complete Ayre electronics and Shunyata powerconditioning/interconnects and speakercables ... no-compromise from both companies, their top models only) ... it was like walking into the recording venue on XRCD recordings ... just blew away the competition in that particular area ... could have been more musical though but just like Porter said, nobody's ever completely happy (the shunyata interconnects and speaker cables are not among my favorite as I find they place too much emphasis on vocals and unaturally separate them from the rest of the performance ... could have been the weak link in the system for me ... but their powercords and powerconditioners are first class and easily among the top 5 best out there)
I can share your admiration of the Whest Audio DAP.10u, mine sits between an Audio Aero Capitole MKII SE and a YBA passion integre (using its amp stage only and the pre from the Capitole). I have tried cardas golden reference/audioquest nrg-5/revelation audiolabs precept and precept II powercords on it. The golden reference and the precept were my favorites. Cardas has musicality but over-refined top end while the Precept has better transients, dynamics and pace, is very open in the highs but not refined here ... sibilance inherent to the sonic qualities of 5 N silver I believe ... however it still sounds mighty impressive and even more so on the YBA.
If you like the DAP.10u I hear from James that his PS.20 does the same for vinyl. I think the only one that people preferred to it here on audiogon was the manley steelhead at almost double the price and it should be given the cost difference ... but I do wonder if most users experimented with different powercords and mechanical isolation devices on it like I have on the DAP ... the results speak for themselves.
Anyways ... I wanted to recommend symposium rollerblocks for your DAP. I use them under every component in my system with results that can parallel those of introducing the DAP itself ... I'm not kidding, these things really work and I highly recommend them if you can find some used on audiogon (try out the symposium series 2 or 2+ rollerblocks instead of the juniors , they are worth the extra money in my opinion).
As regards the CJ gear, I'm really sorry to hear that you have to pay so much for it ... have you considered YBA or Nagra, you could probably find them on the used market for much less and shipping would also be less if you can find them in Europe ... just a thought ... I understand system matching and most systems sound best when pre's and amp's come from the same manufacturer ... and dac's too.
Again, congratulations on this system ... experience in this field is invaluable and learning never stops ... wouldn't it be nice if we could have gone to "audiophile" school when we were young? ... wouldn't have skipped so many classes .... :) and would have been more happy completing "homework" ...
