Best DAC - Preamp Combo $5 to $10K Budget

Try the Benchmark LA4 preamp with whatever flavor of amp you want.

https://benchmarkmedia.com/collections/preamplifiers

There is a 30 free home trial. The reviews have been stellar and essentially saying the unit imparts no sound into the equipment mix. So if you like a certain sound get that from the amp, wires, etc...

I did demo the Benchmark DAC3 HGC, which is a DAC with analog preamp, with the most recent $20K ML monoblocks + Magico A3 speakers. It was not as good as the ML $20K preamp. However, the new LA4 is a bigger step up from the DAC3 HGC and maybe a great solution for a preamp since it is dead silent.

I will be doing a home demo of this LA4 preamp soon and testing it with a Luxman m900u amp (next purchase). I will also be buying the Luxman c900u preamp at some point. So I will really be able to tell if the LA4 is really a competitor to $20K preamps as some reviewers are stating.

I am also looking at the Benchmark AHB2 amp to have 4 pieces in the house. I have owned the AHB2 amp in the past and sold it to invest that money. The LA4 + AHB2 are $5500 combined and I have a feeling will be a long term keeper for me.

I would look into the Rockna Wavedream or Chord Dave. Both are in the $10k range & have volume control.

ML 585 or 585.5 integrated amp can be found for less than 10k. You get a great amp section too. Very nice piece. 

The ML 585 was another piece I demo with the Magico A3 and it thought it was about 85% of the ML separate preamp + 2 ML mono blocks (= $60K). The 585 can be had now used for under $7K.

DiDiT 212se