I find that fundamental choices for amplification make the biggest differences among electronic. That choice must be compatible with the speakers that will be used, listening level that is preferred, and size of the listening space. There are substantial differences between solid state and tube amps, and even bigger differences between high powered tube amps and low powered tube amp. I happen to prefer lower powered tube amps because I like certain low powered tubes, like 2a3 and 45 triodes, and 6L6 pentode tubes. But, if higher power is a must, I would consider solid state. The choice of preamp is also critical because it has to be compatible with the amp. This can really only be known by actually trying them together.
Assuming one has a reasonable set up to feed the DAC (i.e., a computer or streamer isn’t screwing things up), you can get decent sound from most DACs and the choice of DAC is usually not as critical as the choice of amp or preamp.
Assuming one has a reasonable set up to feed the DAC (i.e., a computer or streamer isn’t screwing things up), you can get decent sound from most DACs and the choice of DAC is usually not as critical as the choice of amp or preamp.
