At the risk of disagreeing with my good buddy John_1 above, I owned a Sony XA7 for several years and much preferred to use it with my SF Line 2 pre-amp. I did try it direct to McCormack DNA-2DX amp and found it highly detailed, but thin, lightweight, flat, and uninvolving. The HQ tube pre-amp added considerable body, weight,timbral richness, and a natural holographic quality that direct to amp didn't even come close too. So, in this respect I fully agree with Doug's experience/position of using a good tubed pre-amp with, if necessary, a less expensive CD player. Ideally, I would want both a good front end and a good pre-amp. I have not heard either of the RA CD players, but they are well regarded in the audio press. Cheers. Craig.
