tube pre-amp for active monitors

@almarg  
The balanced inputs bypass the built-in dac and tone stack

The balanced inputs bypass the built-in dac and tone stack

Thanks.  But how does that relate to what I said in my post?

Regards,
-- Al

ignore everything above 
get a used itube for 100-150$ you can use it at 0 db or 6db gain as a preamp.it's really small  one source rca in and out .great for fighting digital harshness and expanding the soundstage,  the power supply and tube do not require an upgrade they use a nos ge tube which i know from other gear and their  50$  ipower. i'm using the itube with an arcam delta 120 power amp and b&w floorstanders (pc> ipurifier3>nuforce icon hd dac with ifi ipower (>hd700)> ifi itube preamp 0 gain>arcam delta120power amp>?b&w dm580. i am very happy with this set . got the itube from ebay used about a month ago used and a little cosmetically challenged  for a 100. 

Are you using the DAC part of your laptop or do you have a separate one?

@soundsrealaudio

I use the SMSL SU-8 dac via USB with a Wyred4Sound Re-Clocker