DAC DIRECT IN TO AMPLIFIER OR TO PREAMPLIFIER

I know a lot of folks do not care for this guy or his musings, but he has a point if you are digital only. https://youtu.be/81RQLo0tLHE?si=t9BKS9t34O0bESV2

Dealer OCD Mike peddles a 22k Playback Designs DAC that voids all preamps apparently on most of his videos. This video is no surprise. It is very doubtful that the dude's dac does endless miracles with every amp on earth..

It is not that much a mystery that amp manufacturers will design a pristine sounding  poweramp and pretty much try to lock you into a pristine sounding $$$$ preamp they specifically designed for it (atleast in the high end). All the DACs and the preamps from other manufacturers can sound less optimal thereafter with that poweramp (Not always though and there are enough exceptions, of course)..

I am going to get the Dream DAC (not from OCD Guy). This is my last item to get. I will not use the DAC direct to amp. I will use it with the $2500 Benchmark LA4 preamp.

I can actually test the quality of the Dream direct to amp if it has RCA outputs. My CODA #16 amp has a nice toggle button on the front for RCA and XLR switching. After adjusting for the gain differences, I will be able compare with the LA4 preamp. Though I already know the answer.

I had Canary Audio 300B Mono amps with a Canary 1800 Dual Preamp.  I had a Lampizator Pacific  DAC.  People kept telling me I should try the Pacific direct to the 300B's but I wouldn't.  Then one day, just for the hell of it I did try going DAC to Amps.  I was astonished.  I thought the sound direct was better.  I immediately sold my Preamp and for the next year was a happy camper.  Then I sold the Pacific and replaced it with the Lampi Horizon, which has an even better Pre.  There have been many debates on WBF with Lampi regarding pre or not to pre.  I would say it is 75% Pre to 25% direct to the amp.  

I am still running my system without a Pre but I now have Aries Cerat Ianus Essentia mono amps.  Although my music sounds great in my opinion, I decided to order an Aries Cerat Ianus Ageto Pre.  I am still not convinced my sound will be that much better, but I hope to be proven wrong when I do get the Ageto.  

Paul; Here is my most recent experience on topic:

I used an Audio Research SP15 as my preamp, an entry level DAC (Suncoz) to smooth my CD and hard drive inputs. I was dissatisfied.

I bought a PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC/streamer which is also a fine quality preamp. In fact Paul McGowan touts it as a substitute for the necessity of a preamp in some of his daily videos. I was excited about the front end of my system being a state of the art source / DAC and preamp. One less component, 3 fewer tubes, a lit less heat, etc. 

The CD sound was fantastic- truly revolutionary. The streaming sound was meh most of the time but wonderful when the material was well mixed and of a high quality uncompressed nature. I had achieved the impossible- tube sound with an all in one front end. I was ecstatic..until:. 

Poor volume control.  The PS Audio preamp just couldn't give a strong enough signal to my amps to make a loud DB presentation. Full volume was about the same as loud talking. It sounded fantastic but I couldn't push it to the level my speakers and amps would support- and some music needs to be played LOUD!

Given my particular components my conclusion is this: With a high end preamp a  first quality DAC is improved- not sonically per se but in overall control of the sound. 

Update:

In my case the pre-amplifier made a noticeable improvement in sound quality- more than I thought it would. The Lumin volume control was fine, but adding a preamp confirmed my suspicion that I was missing out on something. This made the difference I needed from my system. I’m satisfied with my gear now and will be focusing on room treatment moving forward. I only listened to streaming and my NAS. I haven’t rewired the turntable for XLR yet, but will in the next couple days. I can imagine that results for a preamp will depend on the preamplifier being used. This might be where the "your results may vary" and "system dependent" comments come from. There’s no going back for me. If I had to describe the difference between running direct from the Lumin S1 compared to running through the preamp: with the preamp- more depth, better separation of instruments, more full sound, and better focused center image. The only downside I’ve noticed is it does make a little hiss with volume all the way down from the speakers, but it’s minor. I’m thinking this is normal since it’s a tube preamp. It’s still less noise than my old tube amp made though. I hope you find this information helpful.