I've crossed over to the dark side

[cubdog]

In need of a new pre amp and DAC to go with my Bel Canto M300s my first choice was a Bel Canto DAC 1.5. They don't seem to show up too often on the used market however and new one is out of my price range right now. I had looked at the Emotiva XDR-1 as a low priced option, but... Anyway they were just on sale for $299 so WTH. It replaces my Adcom pre adding a DAC. I just got it today. So far I'm OK with it. Soundstage is definately better as is the clarity. Not a dramatic difference but it's nice. Since I have 30 days to try it I'm safe. Or, down the road, if I find a Bel Canto I can sell it for a couple hundred and move on. The only thing I don't like is that I can crank the volume up to 60 [out of 80] or higher which seems odd with Klipsch speakers.

cubdog

[F1nut]

Look into whether the pre has adjustable gain. Often times, it will be a dip switch inside the piece.