DCS Puccini into Lamm M 1.2 w/o preamp?

I agree with Anupmc.

Direct into the amps is the best way forward unless you have some kind of euphonics happening that you cant live without.

My feeling is the Lamm amp on its own will give you enough tube sound. You can switch the output voltage of the DCS to keep the output optimized, so the comments about the digital volume control are just paranoid.

Keep it around -20 and over for proper listening and it will be more than fine. Below that is still fine, but the nervous audiophile in you may start thinking about the bits. But in reality it will be better than most preamps and interconnects whatever you do. Try it I am sure you will be happy. Resolution beyond most digital.

Never underestimate the power of a really good, tubed, preamp.

Rtn
indeed, but never underestimate world class digital either. A nice suit may not need a warm coat in summer.

I guess the results might also be dependent on the distance and cabling between the Puccini and the Lamm.

In my case, the Scarlatti is two feet away from the Boulder and uses Balanced interconnects. If there are much longer distances involved, and since the Lamms are unbalanced, a Pre-Amp in between for drive might be necessary.

But you won't know until you've tried both ways; though if distances are long, making sure you've got good cables on-hand to try both ways becomes a challenge.

I agree with Anupmc.

Puccini direct outperformed my Ref-3. The Ref-3 added some nice colorations, but when I compared Puccini vs Ref-3 on some piano passages and some old, Baroque instruments (viola da gamba etc), I concluded that those are just well ... colorations.

To my ears Puccini direct was just cloaser to the real thing.