Are higher end preamps worth the investment when you are only streaming Tidal & Spotify ?


Amp: Modwright 150SE

Speakers: Aerial Acoustics 7T

Streamer/DAC/ : NAD C658

With the goal of achieving higher fidelity, would a 10k -12k MSRP preamplifier be overkill when you only stream from Tidal or Spotify? Do higher end preamplifier applications mostly apply to vinyl and /or high end transports vs subscription streaming?

 

 

 

puffbojie

OK, to the crowd that is voting preamp I am scratching my head. I have a Marantz surround processor and a dedicated Sony Signature TAZH1 ES that functions as a DAC/preamp/headphone amp. It is a cost no object dac/pre from the best engineers at Sony and was 5 years in the making. It sounds transparent as anything, but not "better" than my Marantz unit on 2 channel, just different. What is this preamp that will unleash this magic?? How much do I need to drop?

My current 2 channel Sony preamp/dac/headphone amp:

https://www.sony-asia.com/electronics/audio-components/ta-zh1es

 

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Since I run 6 different sources on my system, I would be sh*t out of luck without my preamp.

I would upgrade to a much higher en dac stream the nad is a good unit we are

an  nad dealer

 

look at the new nain nac 222 extremely good analog preamp dac and streamer worlds better then the nad

 

Dave and Troy

audio intellect

nad naim dealers

Counter to most views I agree with fuzztone. Recently my US $ 5000 pre developed a hum problem so I hooked my power amp up to my Pure Audio 5 Lotus DAC using it as a preamp. The SQ was excellent - detailed. good imaging and soundstage with no SS harshness. The SQ was if anything better than with the expensive pre and dead silent. So why do I need a preamp?

PS I won't reveal the name of my preamp but it is very highly reviewed and as always said to punch above it's weight.