Component Impact

Sure.....the system operates at the ability of the weakest link in the chain

In one of my older systems, I was sure I needed to change the amplifier until my dealer, who sold both, proved to me that the sound I was looking for was actually achieved by upgrading the preamp. The system had more solidity, tonal accuracy and more pitch-accurate bass. All the things I previously believed were attributable to the amp were accomplished by the preamp. Quite an eye-opener.

Ricred1, what pricerange DAC with VC are you looking at? Steve manufactures/sells one himself, so may be he refrains from answering to avoid perception of conflict of interest. I personally have been researching and playing with DAC + VC with and without preamps for quite some time so I can give you a pretty good lay of the land and guidance if I better understand your parametes. What digital source(s) are you planning to use?

"I would love to eliminate my preamp. What DAC with volume control do you recommend?"

There are only a few choices that enable actually eliminating the effects of the preamp:

1) Overdrive SE
2) older Bidat with external volume option
3) Weiss 202 because it has gain settings that can be used in conjunction with a little bit of digital volume reduction - only works with computer audio

The sound of these varies all over the map, so I recommend auditioning.

Another thing that helps significantly and even improves on the "no-preamp" system is to add a high-quality transformer buffer betwen DAC and amps. This has numerous advantages and improves SQ:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=108715.0

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Edorr,

What do you recommend under 5K? I will use the Apollo R as the transport for now, until funds permit me to upgrade.