Is My McIntosh C52 Pre-amp The Weak Link?

Another vote for getting an external DAC. If you like the Mac keep it. I personally am not a fan of McIntosh preamps but that is just me as I know many people love them.

I have paired an MSB dac with McIntosh gear and to my ears it sounds good.

Get a proper DAC, but maybe one with a good digital volume control you could get rid of your pre as well.

Once I got my first DAC with a built-in volume control (exasound) I sold my Mcintosh c-38, as the DAC was more neutral. It took a while to get used to it, but once I decided I didn't like the colouring of what the pre did in my system there was no going back. I believe the volume control in my Weiss DAC is better than the exasound was. It has a decent streamer as well. 

I believe the C52 is pre swappable DAC module technology from McIntosh, so the C52’s internal DAC is built in and not able to be changed/upgraded.

I also vote for keeping the C52 (I have a C53 with the internal DA2 and love it) and trying a different DAC if you feel a change is needed.

Many thanks for all your responses, very helpful. The overwhelming consensus is; the C52 DA1 is the weak link. However, I don’t want to replace the C52, because, I also have a TT and R2R tape deck (15ips master tape copies are the ultimate in SQ for me. See this forum thread for more information: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/why-do-people-like-reel-to-reel-players. ) The reason I am contemplating the Aurender A20 is, I initially used a Bluesound Node for streaming, upgrading to the Aurender N10 was a night and day upgrade in SQ, everyone in my family immediately noticed the improvement. So, what do I do now, separate DAC or the Aurender A20? If anyone has experienced upgrading to the Aurender A20 from a stand alone DAC, I would love to hear your thoughts on the experience,