DCS Puccini into Lamm M 1.2 w/o preamp?

About a year ago, I would have been a big proponent of the concept that direct is best and most pure. I went to great lengths to purchase the best cables, powercords, and isolation to optimize the sound. I too figured that the money saved on a preamp could be spent on other supportive components. Then I tried a preamp...

What is paradoxical about a really good tubed preamp is that there is actually more detail to the music. Here is what I notice:
1) There is a harmonic richness, depth, and texture in the midrange that sounds like music.
2) The sound is more dynamic, energetic, and interesting.
3) Better integration of the frequencies across the spectrum.
4) More information about the venue and staging. Music is more 3-dimensional and palpable.
5) The treble is not rolled, but there is less hardness and glare on top. The upper end has sweetness and air.
6) Digital volume has unacceptable loss of detail and dynamics at moderate to low volumes. I realize this now although I would not have thought it to be true.
7) There is a very, VERY subtle and very natural softening of the note onsets, with a natural decay.
8) There is no compromise to the background silence. I run the Wadia at the highest voltage out to minimize the gain on the preamp.

Now, I don't think any preamp is capable of exceeding digital direct. Also, I believe digital direct can be entirely satisfying. The preamp I am using is incredibly overbuilt at 80 lbs, two chassis, two power cords, and 16 tubes. There are probably a handful of preamps like this. I also tried a passive preamp, but it only degraded the sound. Although I found direct to be quite satisfying before, when I had to take the preamp out of the system two months ago for repairs, I just wasn't very interested in listening anymore.

I am generalizing about the DCS because that is not what I have. Also, horn speakers may be adding something to the sound that brings it closer to live music. My only point is to remain open to the possibility of coming closer to live music. After all, that is what this hobby is about. I think manufacturers like BAT, Joule, Lamm, VAC, Wavac, and Shindo are creating excellent preamps that may be worth a try.

Hi Rtn1,

Thanks for the info.

I would agree with most of what you say. I have heard the same effects. Not just with preamps but headphone amps too.

In my case things are a little different probably due to speaker sensitivity. I have effortless dynamics right across the frequency range. The Trio is probably one of the finest speakers for this. Having said that it is ruthless with any changes made to the system.

That glare or maybe rawness you mention with direct in I have tuned out, both with a great DAC, and tweaks like internal fuses, power conditioning, regeneration and cabling.

The sound you describe is what a great limiter or compressor can do in the studio. By softening the peaks just enough, and bringing forward the body of the music. Then the added harmonic distortion can bring a sense of life and euphonics to the system.

I had the Lamm (although with a different speaker and front end). I would like to try the wavac. A friend of mine is the importer.

The pain is cabling as I am all XLRs. I am sure the Wavac is RCAs only.

I would like to hear the BAT in my system. I have a friend who has it but his system always sounds dark and moody to me.

I have heard the VAC renaissance sig, which sounded rich if not a bit slow and soft. It is quite nice. I dont know the Joule or Shindo although they all look single ended.

I fear this is why I am finding it tricky to find what I am looking for. I loved the mind boggling speed and purity of the Halcro DM amps and I also like that special thing ARC can do. I would love to find a product that mixed the 2. I find the DCS has a purity and a hint of warmth with unbelievable resolution.

As I said while I look for that elusive preamp, the direct in is extremely good.

I had a dcs puccini into Lamm M1.2 w/o preamp, and now into Lamm ML2.1 w/o preamp - I also tried it with the L2 and the LL2.1.
Lack of funds prevented me from buying either preamp.
I cannot explain it but to my ears the addition of a lamm preamp made me realize what I was missing the direct route - re rtn's comments above.
I feel that this whole story of driving direct amps with cd players with built in volume controls is more of a marketing ploy in order to entice you to buy a more expensive cd player thinking you wont need a preamp.

Thank you for all the helpful posts here. In the end I decided to buy a pair of Pass XA 100.5 new instead of going with a used Lamm M1.2 (here in Italy the importer asks for a prohibitive price of € 29.000 so buying a new pair wasn't really an option). Yesterday I picked up the Pass and plugged them into DCS. I cannot comment on the sound with or without pre as I traded my ARC Referernce 3 for the Pass. I'm already completely happy with the sound (compared to the old setup with ARC Ref3 and Parasound Halo JC1) noticing a big improvement in terms of musical fluidity, texture, coherence and bottom weight (although the Parasound had a more defined, punchy bass). I'm using the 2V output of the DCS and did not recognize any loss of detail at lower listening levels (normally the volume of the DCS is at -25db to -30 db).

However, I'll give it a try with a goob pre like the ARC Ref 5 or the Pass XP 20.

Congratulations. You got a great amp.

If you think it sounds good now, wait for around 200 hours. It should sound noticably better each day.