Am I deaf?

I hate to just jump on the bandwagon, but what the heck. Dump that integrated and get a decent passive preamp. I have an Audio Synthesis Passion (pricey but superb) and I can detect every slight change in the rest of my system (Cal Delta/Theta Basic IIIa, Golden Tube 300B SE, ProAc 3.8, Harmonic Tech ICs and Analysis Plus Silver Oval speaker cable). Preamps do WAY more work with a signal that most people think, and they can muck it up or let it through. That said, I must confess that the sound of my brand new Toshiba 2200 DVD player is very good. It misses the subtle things (hall ambiance, full harmonic structures, three dimensional images, etc.)but for $260 bucks it is a very respectable sounding unit in its own right. Much better than any sub $1000 CD player I've ever heard.

Now that this has become a pre-amp discussion,those wiht experience might comment on dynamics.Do you loose out with passive?

there is a part of the brightness wich come from the transport ans a part from the converter.Believe me, i experienced a lot of different associations and every time, I noticed this simple fact. The most surprising is that the transport has a lot to do with the brightness (including the digital cable if any). I think that the vibration of the transport stay present in the signal as a jitter that has a spectral component that we percieve as brightness.

Heck no. It may appear that way at first but it's only because your losing that digital harshness sound. You get a way more natural and rounded 3 dimentionnal sound. I got a lot more soundstage depth and the bass is amazing. The image got much larger and don't get confused and think your losing dynamics because the background is so super quiet. Its BLACKER than BLACKER. It's almost ominous. Remember you don't need a line conditioner because there is no power to corrupt. So I would say that I got much more slam and dynamics. everything moves through it faster and with more force because the signal stays very pure. I don't know who ever started saying that they have less dynamics but it's just not true. It's the other way around in fact. I really can't talk them up enough they just aren't given the credit they deserve. If you live in the portland Oregon area I would be happy to let you try mine out.

As the owner of an 8-year-old Classe' Ten amp, their integrateds never were up to it IMHO, and particularly when compared to the Plinius, Sim, YBA--you name it. Believe me, different components sound different in my system, but I'm not running a Classe' integrated anything. Good luck in your hunt and good listening!