Adding a Dac and Stresmer


Looking for some advice and need you guys to check my thinking…
I have a PrimaLuna Preamp and Amplifier…..need a Dac and streamer….Being I have a preamp to my thinking I don’t need a Dac that has a preamp and volume, am I thinking right? The speakers are Klipsch Heritage so I think I should get a mellow sounding Dac, maybe a Denifrips Pontus with the Auralic Aries G1.1…..would be happy with a $5000 budget…

silverfoxvtx1800

@Silverfox:  you are correct, the Auralic via Upscale only charges shipping.  Nice tip, thanks!

Hi, I use the Holo Audio May KTE DAC ($5000) and recently got their Red streamer/DDC ($1000). Both are hooked up to a tube pre and a tube amp. The sound is amazing. Deap amd wide Soundstage with great sense of space, great instrument seperation. A full bodied, lush and as natural as I ever experienced sounding combination. I also have the Lab 12 Reference DAC and it sounds thin in comparison to the May.

I have to be honest. I did not know anything about streamers and dad's. My first system consisted of ML ESL !! A's and a Linn streamer. The system has expanded but the streamed is still in play. It has the ability to act as a streamer/amp, a streamer/pre amp, or just as a line source. I am very happy with this streamer

@gilaad 

I seem to be heading down a similar path as yourself. Can I ask what I2S cables you are using (assuming that I2S is your choice) at the moment? What else have you considered? 

Thanks in advance! 

@soix   This is the exact digital front end I am using, Innuos Pulse Mini to Iris to Pontus II via I2S.  The Pulse Mini running the Sense app was a big step up from the Roon Nucleus I was using as a streamer with Roon even though I am a big fan of Roon. I also have a Keces P3 LPS powering the Pulse Mini.  Very resolving and hard to beat for the total cost I believe (especially used).  My next step is to install the Denafrips firmware upgrade for the Pontus II that is supposed to be another improvement in performance.