Thiel Owners

I don’t think my audire forte should be leaping to 1v on start up and shut down.

Thielrules - thank you for posting that amp list. There is a fairly widespread belief among audio pros that audiophiles prefer distortion to provide qualities they call "fullness, richness, lushness, warmth", etc. I must confess that it took me quite some time living with the Benchmark AHB-2 to appreciate its lean directness as being correct. I now delight in its simple clarity and hear other amps as adding artifacts. 
I am using a PS Stellar Gain Cell DAC/Pre. It's nice, but PS gear lands pretty far down the list. I am coveting a listen to the Benchmark DAC/Pre. Is there a similar list of preamps?

Check audiosciencereview.com for their listing of reviewed dacs with pre-amps. 

Speaking of the Benchmark DAC3B and the LA4 Pre -- Paul Seydor has a nice review of these along with considerable mention of the AHB-2 in this month's online Absolute Sound.
Todd

That is quite a list, zero relationship between price and distortion.  There's some seriously expensive stuff way down at the bottom.