Hi Mrderrick,
Honestly I have had a bunch of pre's and trust me the REF 1 is only a decent pre but nothing crazy. The Rhodium IEC that allowed the use of the excellent over achieving Mad Scientist PC-NEO with Power Purifier AC Power Cable and NOS tubes really has helped this pre out and made it much better. I traded a CAT SL-1 Sig MK III for it in my system with the mods/tweeks I find it better for sure but with either there was no comparison. Really not even close. I tried no pre just the other day for the heck of it. Such better controlled and tighter bass and much more solid imaging with the Ref 1. I was astounded and quite surprised when I put my pre back in just last night how much better with the pre. One of the reasons that made think of the DAC change that a decent but not all world pre would offer such an improvement made me think what would happen if I upgraded my source but also this is without the new update so that could make a big change. I also use the PS Audio base for vibration control and plug the DAC into a PS Audio Power Plant Premier so I have been pretty invested in PS Audio gear. I have read before people like these without a pre better and I just can't see how anyone could over think that but each system and preference is different but it was very obvious in my system. Thank so much for the feedback though I really do appreciate it.
Honestly I have had a bunch of pre's and trust me the REF 1 is only a decent pre but nothing crazy. The Rhodium IEC that allowed the use of the excellent over achieving Mad Scientist PC-NEO with Power Purifier AC Power Cable and NOS tubes really has helped this pre out and made it much better. I traded a CAT SL-1 Sig MK III for it in my system with the mods/tweeks I find it better for sure but with either there was no comparison. Really not even close. I tried no pre just the other day for the heck of it. Such better controlled and tighter bass and much more solid imaging with the Ref 1. I was astounded and quite surprised when I put my pre back in just last night how much better with the pre. One of the reasons that made think of the DAC change that a decent but not all world pre would offer such an improvement made me think what would happen if I upgraded my source but also this is without the new update so that could make a big change. I also use the PS Audio base for vibration control and plug the DAC into a PS Audio Power Plant Premier so I have been pretty invested in PS Audio gear. I have read before people like these without a pre better and I just can't see how anyone could over think that but each system and preference is different but it was very obvious in my system. Thank so much for the feedback though I really do appreciate it.