Yaqin Tube Buffer

I Disagree a little with the above posters. I owned the (2) tube 6sn7 unit. It is very "tubey" and made a dramatic impact on my system. (not all good, but not bad) I then tried a single tube unit and the difference was subtle, but the improvement was very nice. The single tube unit reminded me of my old Audio Research LS-2 Hybrid pre-amp. In short, I prefer the single tube model.

Again, it will come down to which component pair will benefit most from the buffer's ability to allow the recipient component to "see" a very low impedance. I think that usually means the buffer between the CD player and preamp is best. Hey, it can't hurt to try both and hear for yourself which of the options sounds best. As for your number 2 concern I think it irrelevant if your Dac is none oversampling with regard to a buffer. I just can't see why it should matter.

I just purchased a Yaqin cd-3 today. my questions are (1) Is the sound the same if it's connected between the cd player and preamp or preamp power amp. (2) Plus or minus using a none oversampling dac at the same time.

I just purchased the Grant Fidelity 283mkii which I believe is the same unit as the CD3. The reason I purchased this model was: (1)It has a on/off power switch. (2)It uses 6SN7 tubes instead of the 6922 family of tubes. The stock chinese tubes sounded not so good, so they were replaced with some electro-harmonix that I had on hand. (much better) I am very pleased with the sound of the unit which is connected to a solid-state integrated amp. It introduced a very noticeable amount of "tube sound" into my system.... I would definately recommend the CD3!

I still think the primary purpose of a tube buffer is impedance matching ala autoforming, to use between the source and amp. I would ask Pacific Valve who I believe Advertizes here. I agree though with Elizabeth the the two tube 6SN7 model is prolly the best if it does infact introduce a tube sound. Tube sound however is frequently squashed by the SS amplifier if that is what is downstream.