I am running the Berning with Gallo Nucleus Reference 2 speakers and the sound is magic. The sound is lightning fast with fantastic resolution and dynamics. As soon as I get home everyday the first thing I do is fire up the system. I tried running my Sony SCD-1 directly into the Berning, but quickly went back to my Supratek Syrah preamp. As great as the Berning is I consider the Supratek the heart of my system and that is saying a lot.