Since I got rid of my analog gear and only have digital sources, I got rid of a newer Mcintosh preamp and went directly from my ps audio ds dac into a ps audio bhk amp, actually the sq is better. Quiet with a lot of headroom. I have attenuation turned on so my volume on the dac is anywhere from 85 to 100 using balanced cables. If you need more headroom, turning attenuation off, my volume is around 40-50
