IFI Neo as preamp

[mgmasterv2]

hi guys ,
i want to buy a new amp for my kef q750 speakers , i was thinking about buying a power amp (e.g. rotel) and directly connecting my ifi neo dac as a preamp to it , is it a good idea? or should i go for an integrated amp like cambridge cxa81?
also i was looking at rotel RB-1552 MkII specs ,i dont know if its compatible with ifi's xlr output . rotel Line Level Inputs is (XLR): 2.5V and input impedance is (XLR): 100kΩ where ifi neo specs line level output is 6.3V / 7.7V and impedance is 100Ω are they gonna work well together?
by the way my budget for amp is around 2000 usd.
thanks

 

[Al ears]

My advice would be to get a proper preamp in there somewhere. The idea that a good preamp can be found in what is to all intents and purposes simply a DAC is the issue.
I guess much depends on what your sources will be, which we do not know.....
I am not sure where the confusion lies regards the XLR outputs on the Neo come from because as far as I am aware the Rotel doesn't have those inputs.

 

[mgmasterv2]

I am not sure where the confusion lies regards the XLR outputs on the Neo come from because as far as I am aware the Rotel doesn't have those inputs.

on RB-1552 MkII xlr input is 2.5V but IFI Neo XLR output is 6.3V / 7.7V

 

[Al ears]

on RB-1552 MkII xlr input is 2.5V but IFI Neo XLR output is 6.3V / 7.7V

I see what you mean now. Can you not attenuate the output from the Neo?
do you have to use the XL R output to the amp? What is the output voltage via the unbalanced connection?

 

[mgmasterv2]

I see what you mean now. Can you not attenuate the output from the Neo?
do you have to use the XL R output to the amp? What is the output voltage via the unbalanced connection?

no, unfortunately i can't
i don't have to but i guess it's gonna sound a lot better than rca.
ifi neo unbalanced output 3.2-3.9v 50Ω
rotel unbalanced input 1.5v 12kΩ

 

[mgmasterv2]

I see what you mean now. Can you not attenuate the output from the Neo?
do you have to use the XL R output to the amp? What is the output voltage via the unbalanced connection?

my friend have advance Paris pre + power amp im gonna go to his place and compare ifi's quality as preamp vs advance paris preamp and post the results here.

 

[mgmasterv2]

my friend have advance Paris pre + power amp im gonna go to his place and compare ifi's quality as preamp vs advance paris preamp and post the results here.

@Al ears OMG! i was blown away, ifi was clearly better than advance paris own preamp.
sound was super exciting , super crystal clear, noise free, sound stage was way better than AP preamp, base, mid, highs everything was in place and sounded better with ifi neo.
AP is not a very good amplifier with its own preamp but ifi brings life into AP sound.
im going to buy a new ifi dac a 2000$ pro dsd, it was that good.