Pre amp recommendations

I was not using the Node’s internal DAC. At the time, I was using a Node that fed into a benchmark DAC3 (DAC and volume control). I swapped the Node for an Aurender N150. You are on the right track, IMO, by focusing on the preamp and the Node. I don’t know which one you should get first. I started with the Node because it was the least expensive item in my chain. My audiophile buddy told me the streamer upgrade would be noticeable because it was for him, and I thought the DAC3 was top-notch - I never considered there would be an improvement with a separate preamp. My audio journey has made me re-think a lot of the opinions I had.

Thank y’all so much. This is great information. Looks like a new pre and streamer on my radar. Any more suggestions welcome. 

Agree with others on the BHK pre.  Rolling tubes is a fun way to play with the sound and maybe get something you like better than the stock tubes.

I have the Parasound P6 connected to PS Audio M700s to Magnepan 1.7i. I love the P6. The feature set alone is amazing and it integrates perfectly with my HT system. Sonically, it does no harm and I’m very pleased with the overall sonics of my system. I had a P5 before and IMO, the P6 is a noticeable improvement. With the P5 I could hear a bit of graininess and the volume control drove me nuts. The P6 improved on both counts and I’m delighted with the improvements they made to the volume control. I’m sure there are sonically better preamps out there but I don’t hear anything out of the P6 that makes me want to change. I can’t comment on the built in DAC nor the phono stage within because I’ve not tried them. I use a Schiit Yggdrasil for the DAC and don’t own a turntable.

SPL Elector is a wonderful and relatively affordable preamp that can scale up to equipment at an exponent. It made an enormous improvement to my system, and just keeps on giving with any upgrade in the chain.

Do check it out 🙏🏼👍🏼