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DACs With Killer Built-In Preamps

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I see a lot of DACs with volume controls with the ability to act as a preamp. The Audio Research Reference Dac/Digital Media Bridge ($15k) has a volume control and a lot of innards of its Reference 5SE preamp...which makes for a very serious preamp section on that DAC.

Are there any DACs with voulume controls under $7k that can compete with top-tier preamps?
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128x128mitch4t
ikarus
113 posts
 
I have been eyeing two :

- Calyx Femto
- M2Tech Vaughan
soix
9,812 posts
 
I'd take a hard look at the Empirical Audio DAC, and a lot of people seem to like the Berkeley DAC run directly into an amp as well. Best of luck.
edorr
714 posts
 
Also look into the Aesthetic pandora. It has a preamp / VC option based on technology from their acclaimed calypso tube preamp. It is supposed to be a phenomenal DAC to boot. It is right at your pricepoint.
gfroman's avatar
gfroman
142 posts
 
Boulder 1012!!!
phreak12
6 posts
 
Look for AMR DP-777.
I dropped my Pass Preamp for it.
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