The best preamp to go with the dsp-9000 is the preamp inside the dsp-9000. What you've experienced is not a synergy mismatch, but the superiority of the dsp-9000 compared to the arc preamp. I strongly disagree with "the newer the better when it comes to dacs" statement. The numbers are newer, the samplings are higher, the jitter is claimed to be lower...... So what. The most musical dacs are still from the eighties. EAD, Sonic Frontiers, Metronome, Melos, Theta.
Best preamp for EAD DSP 9000 Pro DAC
Hi dear fellows.My system consists in a Krell kav 300 cd player,an ARC LS2BMK2 tube/ hybrid preamp and an ARC D200 amp.I recently bought an EAD DSP9000 PRO DAC ( which has also a preamp included)and I use my Krell cd player as transport.I´m very happy with the accurate timber of instruments,with the dark background of music and the quality of the EAD DSP 9000 PRo.Anyway when using this DAC as preamp too, I notice that the image restraines and there is no this soundstage I have when using my ARC LS2BMK2 tube/hibrid preamp without the EAD.The issue is that when using the EAD together with the ARC preamp I feel there is no sinergy so I am forced to choose between the accurate timber of music using EAD DAC as preamp too (without using the ARC preamp) and having a restrained image ¨OR¨ to choose using the ARC preamp whitout connecting the EAD DSp 9000 pro but in doing so I have this big soundstage and image but there is no this contour of instruments, details, accurate timber.So my question is.....Is there any preamp suitable for this DAC?Any experiences will be highly appreciated.Cheers.Raf