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DAC Remote Preamp Tubes - Confused

Any help/suggestions appreciated. In my living room I currently have a macmini going to an older benchmark dac1, then to a george wright preamplifer, wright 3.5 mono amps, and on to klipsch cornwalls. We are now doing a remodel where we are installing a television in the room and this will entail having the macmini, direct tv, playstation, etc., hooked up to the system, which will remain a two-channel system. We want to keep the cornwalls and tubes because we love the sound and have a large room. But it would be nice to have a remote and be able to quickly change inputs if we are, for example, watching the tv and a commercial comes on (I'd like to be able to quickly switch to some music from the computer and then switch back). It appears from my research that there are some new dacs (for example, the Wyred for Sound DAC2) with multiple digital inputs and a remote. If I go this route, it seems like I will have to remove the Wright preamplifier from the system because if I use it I would want to bypass the volume control on the DAC2. Is this correct? Would removing the Wright preamp be a big mistake? Am I missing something? Any suggestions before I make any decisions? Thanks
skf3636
musicslug
430 posts
 
from what I've read, you don't have to take the pre out if you use the volume control in the W4S Dac2. some people prefer to take the pre out, feeling it gives a better sound, but plenty others still like the sound of their pre and leave it in.
skf3636 OP
7 posts
 
Thanks for the response. Do you lose something if the pre remains in the system, but the volume control is used on the dac2? I thought it was best to have the volume control on the dac2 set all the way up and then to use the volume control on the pre if there was one in the system, but this would not work best for my needs.
bobf1717
14 posts
 
i own the w4snd dac 2 and use every single imput from sources including imac (itunes library/ usb), sonos/ coax, proceed cdp/ coax , request server/toslink and apple tv/ toslink. the dac runs thru my pass cary pre. the rti master remote handles every chore including source and volume control. all in all it's a pretty simple and nice system, although not good for tightening the stomach muscles! a word on the w4sdac 2: the depth of bass really surprised me. as in wow! sometimes i wonder if it is too much for my ears, but that would be my ears' fault not the dac. it made a remarkable improvement from every source but the biggest difference came about when i installed new power chords purchased from patrick cullen, son of rick cullen, who from what i understand sold his company to wyred for sound. by all means invest the money in those chords for all your power amps and other sources, starting with the dac.
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