where to use your best ic s.

Oops,forgot the second part of the question. Try hard to get 2 good ones. I prefer the same quality and brand. Once you got all that good stuff coming out of the source, you want to keep it going all the way to its destination. But, if one at a time is all you can swing,get the best you can for now. Don't spend $$ on new stuff you know you will be replacing/unless you have nothing else to use, at all.I would think you could get more for your money buying used.

Larry, I have been told by individuals that in my opinion are true audiophiles that the most important (critical) IC is between the DAC and preamp. Thats where I would put the silver lace. When you can afford it, purchase the second silver lace. That will save you from having to sell the entry level IC's at a latter date. (if you can afford to do it that way) (IMHO)!

You can actually try it out. I believe if you used the better ICs from the source to Pre would give you much finer detail and better highs. If you used it from Pre to Power, it would give you better dynamics and livelier sound. Depending on your system and preference. For me, I would put it as close to the source as possible.

Before reading these posts, I'd always heard that the IC to the power amp was the most important. Of course if lengths are the same, or can be made the same (even temporarily), you can try it both ways, TO preamp or FROM preamp with the best. But if you need different lengths and can't make this test, I'd be very hesitant to buy the best IC for a source. My source for the opposite conclusion has credentials that I trust, and my own ears bear out his advice.

Nice thing about opinions is they can be readily ignored. Feel free to ignore mine. I prefer to use a little logic myself; garbage in, garbage out. I use my best IC's from my source components to pre-amp. The better the signal to the pre-amp the better it will carry on downstream and ultimately to your ears. Having said that, you need to make sure you have decent IC's from pre-amp to amp, and acceptable speakers cables or your front end investment was wasted. To sumarize, use your best up front and make sure the balance of your cables are of decent quality. Jeff