DCS Puccini into Lamm M 1.2 w/o preamp?

Hi Atmasphere,

I have exactly the same worries as yours. However, some posts (unfortunately I do not find them anymore) and two reviews were quite favorable to a hook up the DCS directly to the power amps. As I do not use my turntable or other non-digital anymore I wouldn't need my preamp anymore, but I'm not sure whether the output of the DCS will work fine with the input of the Lamm.

Regards
Martin

@Bjbcab

uinfortunately the Parasound do not play in the same league as your Ayre MX-R. Before getting the Puccini I used a Emmlabs CDSD/DCC2 as my digital source and pre. I always found the sound with my current speakers a bit lean, thats why I added the Ref 3 which added some weight and body to the sound. However, now that I want to change the power amps (the Lamm or a pair of Pass XA 100.5 are on the shortlist) I hope to get a more balanced sound even w/o a pre-amp. I Think your Ayre are just to perfect to need any sonic "adiustment" even if the Ref 3 is said to be a very neutral pre.

@Atmasphere
I wouldn't describe neither the Parasound nor the Isophon Cassiano D as cold or clinical, however, I feel that I wand a more "involving" sound with a bit more body. I guess that my Parasound just isn't the perfect match to the speakers (though most people told me that the currebnt sound is very well balanced).

That's why I want to change my amplifers to Pass XA or Lamm (I understand that the Lamm will have even more the "involving tube-like sound" however, at the expense of loosing some transparency and trebel resolution towards the Pass).

@Anupmc
Last weekend I made some comparisons between running the DCS balanced to the REF3 and then balanced into the Parasound and feeding the Parasounds directly by the DCS (balanced cables have been Straight Wire Crescendo and Virtuoso H).

I was quite astonished about the result: the sound feeding the Parasounds directly by the DCS was even more transparent and "direct". On the other side the sound lost a bit of its midrange warmth and body. However, in my opinion the pros outbalanced the cons.

@Chadeffect
Completely agree. In my comparison I used the 2V output of the Puccini which worked just fine (at normal listening levels the Puccini's volume control was around -35db and I did not hear any loss of resolution at all).

@Anupmc
The lenght between the current pre or in future the DCS and the monos is 10 ft. I think my Straight wire Crscendo should not compromise the sound at all.

@Clavil
Thank you for the information. I also read the reviews in TAS and in 3 or 4 other magazins. All revierws univocally claimed that the Puccini sounded surprisingly good fed directly into the power amps.

I'm looking forward to reading your impressions. What amps are you using?

@Rtn1
might be that the Lamm preamp would even better the Ref 3 but unfortunately I'm remote control dependent... ;-)

Thank you for all the helpful posts here. In the end I decided to buy a pair of Pass XA 100.5 new instead of going with a used Lamm M1.2 (here in Italy the importer asks for a prohibitive price of € 29.000 so buying a new pair wasn't really an option). Yesterday I picked up the Pass and plugged them into DCS. I cannot comment on the sound with or without pre as I traded my ARC Referernce 3 for the Pass. I'm already completely happy with the sound (compared to the old setup with ARC Ref3 and Parasound Halo JC1) noticing a big improvement in terms of musical fluidity, texture, coherence and bottom weight (although the Parasound had a more defined, punchy bass). I'm using the 2V output of the DCS and did not recognize any loss of detail at lower listening levels (normally the volume of the DCS is at -25db to -30 db).

However, I'll give it a try with a goob pre like the ARC Ref 5 or the Pass XP 20.

Elberoth, the price I mentioned was for a pair of NEW Lamm M 1.2. For the pair of used Lamms I had to pay 11-12k Euro.

It seems that you're changing system quite often. I can still see a very nice ARC Setup in your profil. Does the Pass have enough power to drive the Sophias?

Elberoth2, I had several amps on my shortlist. One of them was the Dartzeel which is - compared to the US - quite affordable here in Europe (at least compared to the Pass and Lamm); however, which should me very picky with the rest of the system.

What is your experience compared to the Pass XA 30.5?

Kops, after the few hours I could listen to my new Pass fed directly by the Puccini I can already say that its a great match. The combination I highly musical and has considerably more weight and body compared to my old system, which is exactly what I was looking for.

The Parasound in combination with the ARC Ref 3 had a more punchy and defined bass, however, was also a bit too lean for my tast and was extremly transparent and airy. It really depends what one is looking for. With my speakers I find the current setup more balanced and less "clinical". Said that, I still have to say that the Halo JC1 are great amps for the price (...maybe not in Europe at € 10.000 ;-)).