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Is pre-amp getting killed?

Hi,
   I'm in the market for the Pre-amp and DAC. I had the PS audio Stellar Gain Cell DAC/Pre-amp combo and I sold that to go separates. I thought of buying PS audio Direct Stream DAC and Audio Research REF 6 Pre-amp. I started doing research and spoke to few dealers. Below are the recommendations I got,

1. Bel Canto EX DAC
2. Simaudio 390 Network Player/DAC

3 dealers I spoke recommended to go with Pre-AMP/DAC/Network player combo instead of separate Pre-amp and DAC. Is pre-amp's are getting killed by the combo? 

Any thoughts?

Ag insider logo xs@2xkarurravi
Ag insider logo xs@2x
karurravi OP
36 posts
 
@hk_fan what would be your recommendation for the DAC and Pre for Dynaudio Confidence C4 speakers
with BelCanto Monoblock e600 amp
Post removed 
glennewdick's avatar
glennewdick
1,629 posts
 

d2girls

that's totally unacceptable on this form, trash talk like that. just move on please and keep your comments to your self next time.

chrissain
470 posts
 
The new bel canto ex dac looks stunning, if it's in your budget I would for sure check it out. My Bel Canto dac 3.7 hits way above its price class. 
rbstehno
1,411 posts
 
I like my ps audio DS dac with the bridge II. I looked at a lot of dacs and if the dac wasn’t fpga based, it was old technology and I skipped it. Every 6 months, I get an update that makes the DS sound better, and the current DS is rated in the top tier group.
i used the DS directly into my classe monoblocks and when I went with a new McIntosh c47 preamp, sound quality jumped for the better. 
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