Do I really need a Pre-Amp or can I connect DacMagic with X power directly?

[NigelF]

I have a question, I want to buy a Cyrus PreAmp and X Power but current funds restricting both purchase, as I want to buy the Pre XPD QX which is a lot expensive at the moment beyond my current savinsg ):

I currently have DacMagic and wondering if I can purchase only Cyrus X power and connect DacMagic directly to X-Power via interconnect will it work well or pre-amp is a must, or a PreXPD QX will give a better sound? I want to try these out with Dynaudio focus 110. I only listen to music via Sonos and don't plan to use any other source like CD etc.

I am not familiar with Pre/Power technicalities so apologies for my ignorance.

Thanks.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

NigelF:

I have a question, I want to buy a Cyrus PreAmp and X Power but current funds restricting both purchase, as I want to buy the Pre XPD QX which is a lot expensive at the moment beyond my current savinsg ):

I currently have DacMagic and wondering if I can purchase only Cyrus X power and connect DacMagic directly to X-Power via interconnect will it work well or pre-amp is a must, or a PreXPD QX will give a better sound? I want to try these out with Dynaudio focus 110. I only listen to music via Sonos and don't plan to use any other source like CD etc.

I am not familiar with Pre/Power technicalities so apologies for my ignorance.

Thanks.

This wouldn't work. You could buy a Beresford DAC for the same sort of money that you can sell your DacMagic. Most, if not all the Beresford range have pre amplification integrated. It obviously won't sound as good as the Cyrus pre but will sound good nonetheless.

 

[Anonymous]

hi nigelf, if you wanted to connect any source directly to a power amp. the source would have to have variable output,so you could turn the volume up and down on the source unit.i had a beresford caiman which i used as a preamp connected to my rotel power amp,

 

[Crocodile]

Just to combine the two previous answers.

The issue isn't that the DacMagic doesn't have a pre-amp, it's that it doesn't have variable output. So anything you play will always be at maximum volume. The Caiman has a variable output so the suggestion of a swap to that is an option. It has no remote though so volume changes will have to be of the "get off your backside" variety.

If your only source is something like the Logitech Squeezebox (with digital volume control) then that would be OK straight into a power amp.

You could look at a cheaper pre-amp or even an integrated with pre-outs to tide you over for now. Your current amp may even have these.

 

[NigelF]

Crocodile:

Just to combine the two previous answers.

The issue isn't that the DacMagic doesn't have a pre-amp, it's that it doesn't have variable output. So anything you play will always be at maximum volume. The Caiman has a variable output so the suggestion of a swap to that is an option. It has no remote though so volume changes will have to be of the "get off your backside" variety.

If your only source is something like the Logitech Squeezebox (with digital volume control) then that would be OK straight into a power amp.

You could look at a cheaper pre-amp or even an integrated with pre-outs to tide you over for now. Your current amp may even have these.

Can't I control the volume via my Sonos remote, I also have Squeezebox I can try that as well.

 

[Anonymous]

check out the Musical Fidelity M1HPA. It's a headphone amp which can be used as a Class A Preamp. Should sound great and be relatively cost effective. If you have a DAC than the lack of inputs on the M1HPA shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Anonymous]

A dedicated pre amp will arguably give a better sound but yes it's entirely possible to control the volume on the Sonos without a pre amp.