Which DAC - Streamer or Preamp?

@ghdprentice thank you for the encouragement about the room.  Yes, my intention is to get this basic stereo setup in place and then concentrate on optimizing the room as best I can with placement and acoustic treatments.  After that, I can add to my system and improve the weak points over time.

@soix thanks for the tip on the C-47 DAC card change.  I'll do a little research to figure out what I have.  I thought about jumping to the A8 right away, but its an upwardly slippery slope, and I leave room for an even bigger streamer jump in the near future.

I thought about jumping to the A8 right away, but its an upwardly slippery slope

If it was me I wouldn’t do that — I’d get a separate DAC to use with the A6. DACs are a personal choice and sound different, and what are the odds that the DAC in the A8 is best for your particular sonic preferences? I’d say very low. There are tons of excellent DACs out there today so worth doing some research to find the one that best matches your sonic preferences and do that. I don’t believe there’s much difference in streaming between the A8 and A6, and the A6 should be fine as a streamer for now. Or maybe you’ll get lucky and be very happy with what you already have.  Just my $0.02 FWIW.

@soix that’s a great point, and one that didn’t occur to me right away, coming from a more common audio consumer mindset, thanks.

99.9999% you have DA1 DAC module in that McIntosh unless someone upgraded it. That DAC is nothing special at all. It’s easily bested by a good outboard DAC such as Benchmark DAC3 that you can buy used for under $1200. Compare the Eversolo DAC to DA1 and determine for yourself. 

the DAC1 card is just ok but the DAC2 baord is very good in comparison. probably need a $2500+ outboard DAC to beat it. You may want to price the DAC2 board upgrade for your mac, it also adds some very nice conectivity for a TV through the e-arc input also has usb input, very flexaable.