I had to stand up a separate system during a renovation and found that my Hegel HD30 Dac performed beautifully when placed between streaming source and amp without a preamp. I bought it specifically for this possibility, as it has fantastic volume control.
DACs that do well without a preamp
I am looking for a DAC to feed my DNA-1 gold power amp directly, streaming Qobuz or Tidal from a Bluesound Vault. Budget is $1-2K; would consider used, if worthwhile. Current contenders are Benchmark 3 HGC, Brooklyn DAC+, Gustard x26 pro, Holo Spring 3, Musetec 004 and Pontus ii. Looking for clean, detailed, uncolored sound that "lifts the veil". What are the qualities I should look for to drive an amp well, without a pre?
Showing 2 responses by laaudionut
@alan_a , like everything in our esoteric hobby, "your own results may vary". In my case, I connected my HD30 directly to a Coda Model 11 and fed to a pair of PSB Stratus Golds and I was very pleasantly surprised with the sonic results. Perhaps in your experience there was a poor match with the gain level of your amp? I can only attest to the sound quality that I heard. And yes, in may main listening room, I have a Lumin streamer connected to a tube preamp paired with a solid state amp. |