Many thanks for all your responses, very helpful. The overwhelming consensus is; the C52 DA1 is the weak link. However, I don’t want to replace the C52, because, I also have a TT and R2R tape deck (15ips master tape copies are the ultimate in SQ for me. See this forum thread for more information: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/why-do-people-like-reel-to-reel-players. ) The reason I am contemplating the Aurender A20 is, I initially used a Bluesound Node for streaming, upgrading to the Aurender N10 was a night and day upgrade in SQ, everyone in my family immediately noticed the improvement. So, what do I do now, separate DAC or the Aurender A20? If anyone has experienced upgrading to the Aurender A20 from a stand alone DAC, I would love to hear your thoughts on the experience,
Is My McIntosh C52 Pre-amp The Weak Link?
I currently stream music, from Qobuz, via an Aurender N10 streamer into a McIntosh C52 pre-amp for D/A conversion, analogue output, into a McIntosh MC312 power amp, driving Magico A5 speakers. SQ IMHO is outstanding/perfect, but, I am an audiophile, so there is no such thing as perfect! Time to upgrade something. It is my opinion the C52 built in DAC is the weak link in the system? Thinking of upgrading the Aurender N10 to an Aurender A20 (streamer with built in DAC) and feed the analogue output into the C52. Your thoughts please, have I correctly identified the weak link in the system?