Need Advice on a Tube PreAmp & DAC on a Frugal Budget


My Frugal budget is $1,500ish give or take $500 :).

I’m not a high end audiophile by any means and don’t think I would ever be, but…. I’d like to have acceptable sound to my neophyte ears. I basically listen to Classical/Jazz but also rock once in a while.

I’ve been buying a different piece every year for the past 4 years and tried to incorporate everything into an all in one Home Theatre.

What I currently have:

Polk LsiM703’s
MIT AVt3 speaker cables
SB SV-2000
Parasound HCA 1500A
AVR Pioneer VSX-01TXH receiver

I rarely watch TV or movies anymore, so I’m looking to get an acceptable Hi-Fi system. Currently I go from PC to Receiver (HDMI) when playing my digital rips and I have some HDTracks High Res.

So...I’d like to get a separate Preamp and DAC to stream HD music and play my digital tracks. I don’t own a good CD player (transport?) or turntable. But I may get a CD player at some point, not sure on turntable.

I would buy used if from a reputable seller and I’m not against building kits if they come with good instructions.

Hopefully you folks with more knowledge can give me some items to research.

Thanks for your suggestions!

Zen

zendawgg
I went for a used McIntosh Tube Preamp/Tuner, mx110z, and love it.

http://thetubestore.com/lib/thetubestore/schematics/McIntosh/McIntosh-MX110-Z-Series-Owner-Manual.pdf



I'm guessing you've probably never heard great FM Stereo (most people haven't). I only listen to my Jazz station, you might listen to Jazz and Classical stations.

It is a superb tuner, but it does need a dedicated FM antenna to give it a strong signal.


"mx110 FM Tuner (and some Richard Moderaffi unofficial history).

When operating to spec, the mx110 tuner section is superb. McIntosh engineer (way back then) Richard Moderaffi (who originally designed the MR77 & MR78 tuners) (performs modifications on McIntosh tuners) said there is nothing he could do to improve upon the original design of the mx110 tuner section. It was (and still is) that good."



It has wonderful tube Phono EQ, you will eventually try TT I bet.

for low volume listening of anything, it has optional low volume boost of lows and highs, widely misunderstood, but terrific when setup/used properly. Oddly named 'loudness compensation', it is actually progressively engaged low volume compensation.
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Thanks @elliottbnewcombjr

So I forgot but I have have a small headphone setup that I don’t use much.  I have a Little Dot MK III Headphone Tube Amplifier and a DAC for it.  Could I hook that up to my system (specs listed in first post) to test?

How would I connect my Sub.

Yes I’m a n00b.
Go to schiit.com they have all kinds of gear , budget wise, very very reasonable, they have B stock with fair discount...
I second Schiit. A Saga + for $399 for the preamp.  Add a Modi 3 DAC for $99 or Modi Multibit DAC for $249 and pocket the rest for something else.
Your Little Dot isn’t powerful enough to drive your speakers and can’t be hooked up to the Parasound.

"Good news is the ample amount of power. At 160 milliwatts, you should have no trouble driving high impedance headphones to pretty loud levels."

The power of this headphone amp is milliwatts. You need an amp that outputs watts, which is 1000x the power of a headphone amp.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-little-dot-mk-...


jayctoy & mcreyn I will take a look at Schiit!

lowrider57 thanks for the explanation!
You really can't go wrong with that kit.  I really like the Schitt products, a lot of sound bang for the buck.  I also have the Polk LSim 703's.  Excellent speakers all the way around for a small price.  Enjoy the music.