To both jetter and abery ( and anyone else ). Although I am not using my pair of STA 200s in my main system, I do believe it is an amazing little amplifier. I also believe I have as much, if not more, experience than most, in using the amp with several different combinations since my acquisition of the first sample almost 2 years ago. The amp was designed with a passive pre to go before it, and for a year now, this is how I have been listening. Not just with the STA 200, but with other amplifiers. Without naming names, I owned 2 top tier preamps, that were quite excellent, but ultimately, determined they were coloring, and robbing my system of details in the music. I would suggest both of you to take your preamps out of your systems, and run only through the SYS, for about a week. There will be an adjustment your ears will make, as I know you will not like everything you hear at first. But if you really appreciate your recordings for what they truly are, and can be, given time, you, like me, will stay passive. This is especially true with the input sensitivity, and gain, of the STA 200. No preamp, one less pair of interconnect, and I am telling you, your preamps are not needed. My Luminous unit is incredible. Silent, reliable, and offers me remote volume, which I never had before in my main 2 channel system. My Dac is quite amazing as well, and it is an older type ( modified Adcom GDA 700 ), and drives any of my amplifiers with ease. And if I am wrong, after about a week, all you need to do is go back to your preamps with an extra set of interconnects, and, enjoy ! So, there you have it. Enjoy ! MrD.
