yes, my speakers are very inefficient Vandersteen Model 2C's from the late 80s. They need loads of juice to really make them rock. I just updated my Pre-amp to a Schiit Saga this past week, which is actually pretty awesome preamp (waaay better soundstage than the Onkyo receiver I was using as a pre before.) But the Onkyo had loads of gain, saga does not as it turns out.
My digital front end has no issues since my DAC has a built-in headphone amp (Audio-GD R2R-11) and can crank the knob and also set to high gain when needed. It's just the analog front end is a little light in the pants now.
My digital front end has no issues since my DAC has a built-in headphone amp (Audio-GD R2R-11) and can crank the knob and also set to high gain when needed. It's just the analog front end is a little light in the pants now.