Thank you for including me in this discussion. I know you are a Vandersteen fan as well. Yes, for the reduced footprint in my smallish den (12 x 14’), the AVA SET 120 control amplifier paired with the Naim Uniti Atom headphone edition pre/DAC/streamer and my Vandersteen VLR CT standmounts (which can be placed within 6 inches of the rear wall) is quite good. I think I stretched a little bit before when I said it was sublime. This space does not have room treatments, and so I need to work on that before passing judgment… but I have to say that without treatments I was happier with the Belles Aria Signature integrated with Vandersteen Sub3 and high pass filters in my system. The straight gain of the control amp was initially exciting, but after time I have found it to be fatiguing. I had an Audio Research Ref3 preamp that I regret selling, and will be investing in a tube preamp for my main system. I am in the camp now where a good (tube) preamp is beneficial. And I am going back to the Belles integrated and Sub3 in my den
DAC DIRECT IN TO AMPLIFIER OR TO PREAMPLIFIER
For the longest time, I believed that the best preamplifier is no preamplifier. Eliminating a component from the audio chain would yield less distortion & greater purity.
Recently, I have had reason to re-think my logic on the matter - and I am (I think) changing my mind. Better said, assuming that the preamplifier in the component you are using (in my case, a DAC) can produce 95% or greater quality sound compared to the preamplifier component, then no preamplifier is the best option. The 5% represents the (estimated) loss of fidelity in adding another set of interconnects.
That said, most DACs do not have an outstanding preamplifier built in. I think most have average passive attenuators, and the better DACs have active preamplifiers that are very good - but not as good as a quality preamplifier.
What are your thoughts?