i believe the chord hugo tt2 has a high output voltage, and remote control of it as well, so it can run straight into the amp, low gain or not...
First Watt F8, passive preamp, DAC
The F8 is comparable to other First Watt amps in terms of wattage but the gain is only 15db. The Stereophile review says to be wary of using it with a DAC volume control and presumably a passive pre. Can anyone speak from experience? My speakers are Devore, 91db, 8 ohms, and I would like to control the F8 with my DAC.