Paul McGowan of PS Audio has posted several YouTube videos on this subject. You can Google those. I was going directly from my PS Audio Directstream DAC Mk1 into my M700 monoblocks, and thought it sounded great. After watching his videos, and reading various other discussions, I decided to try putting a preamp into the chain. About that time, PS Audio was coming out with their new Stellar Gold Preamp, and I was given the opportunity to beta test one. The improvement was remarkable! Soundstage was wider and deeper, greater detail, just more musical in every way!! And it's a ss preamp. Your results may differ, but it sure improved my system. And BTW, many who have tried the new Stellar Gold Preamp and compared it to the BHK Preamp (which has a tube input stage) preferred the ss Gold Preamp.
