Your first description is my understanding of the term "forward" when applied here, and is what my impression was. The entire soundstage is not pushed forward, but the closest of the performers does indeed seem to break the plane of the speakers in some cases, while others remain behind (which is what I'm more used to hearing in my room). The first thing that jumped out at me was the detail extraction. The opening cut of King Kreosote's great album, Diamond Mine, is just a recording of him and his family at some seaside coffee shop...actually much of the dialogue comes from one of the waitresses while their conversation is very subdued. It is melded with the introductory music that leads into the first cut that he actually sings. That piece of live ambiance of life going on in a coffee shop is full of subtle details and spoken words and sounds and noises at varying distances. I only bring it up because it was the very first cut I played with the Elyse as I'm very familiar with how that entire album sounds. It was as if you'd cleaned a very thin film from the acoustic window and all of a sudden each sound was brought to light and had a very distinct and specific position and clarity. Mind you, the other components which I'm used to are no slouches in rendering a very convincing and engaging illusion. But it's like wearing glasses that have just a bit of oil film from your fingers on them that you've become used to...when you finally clean it off the world snaps clearly into focus. That was what that first listen was like. The players also seem to become slightly larger. I was hearing subtle details in space that may have been there before, but obviously weren't separating as well, and not as well defined in space. I don't know that the soundstage felt larger, but it did improve the illusion of dimensionality and separation, perhaps in some way by pushing those most forward slightly ahead of the speaker plane. I also think that the crisper, cleaner nature of the DAC in comparison especially with the 105, which, in comparison, sounds strongly influenced by the 6SN7 tube output stage. It renders a somewhat "warmer" sound, to use more audiophile ambiguous terminology. The leading edges of notes with the 105 seemed to be more soft ("pleasing...mellow...laid back" all come to mind), while the Elyse seemed very sharp and well defined. Again, that sharpness might normally have me bracing for something harsh, but it simply didn't happen, much to my delight. I was sad to send it back to Dan. I still love the sound of the 105, and am quite used to that presentation. When pressed to choose, in direct comparison, my personal preference was the Elyse each and every time. I could certainly tell the two apart blind. What the 105 does is very pleasing on much of the vocal and stringed instrument acoustic music I tend to favor. I also did not tube roll much at all and I know I can tailor the sound of the 105 to some degree by changing the tubes. I do hope that helps clarify some things for you. I confess, I'm a bit over all the fuss of all the A/B/C testing and agonizing over straining to hear and describe differences (these were easy as there was certainly no straining to hear them). I Have a limited patience for it after 30 years of tinkering and much prefer to just enjoy the music. I had the gear here and I've come to greatly respect what Dan is capable of over the many years I've known him, so I was not going to let the opportunity pass without taking a listen and enjoy what he's done. Again, there are the obvious disclaimers I've made here before.
