Personally I’d go with an integrated as needing a DAC with a good volume control will reduce your DAC choices quite a bit. Just my $0.02 FWIW. Best of luck.
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.