Bryston or Yamaha?

I doubt the 30+ year old Yamaha is digitizing any analog inputs.

@travelinjack  I didn’t say it was digitizing inputs, I said it has a DAC in it doing digital processing that creates noise I don’t want in a stereo preamp.

@soix if they aren’t being used then they shouldn’t be creating any noise. Hard to believe anyone would use those 30+ year old coax and optical inputs over a much better modern external DAC.

@travelinjack  If the DAC is in the preamp it’s receiving power, and if it’s receiving power it’s emitting noise and low-level analog preamp signals are very susceptible to noise.  No thanks. 

The Bryston preamps are notoriously quiet and neutral.

I'm a tube guy but also own a BR-20 which I love.

Not until you get into the $22,000+ range in preamps do you hear better (by only a little bit) sound.