And someone above alluded to garbage in, garbage out when impressing on the importance of the pre-amp. True. And the most we can control if our source is streaming or CD. But, that applies to the earliest point in the system we can control, and we still see a lot of people not paying attention to their cartridge and stylus on their turntable - the ultimate GIGO. (We are hoping the producers of any records-CDs are recording to highest standards and pressing the vinyl right, etc.) Just sayin.