Is no preamp really better that a good preamp?

Better yet, DirectStream owners can wait for the upcoming BHK preamp.

http://parttimeaudiophile.com/2015/10/05/rmaf-2015-its-always-sunny-at-ps-audio/

"Upcoming PS Audio BHK preamp??"

Now that explains things.

Cheers George

....which still does not explain how the Aesthetix could fix the DirectStream's 'problems' and,
....that rather than tout another brand, build one of your own.
The synergy is now complete.

Cheers! J.

An excerpt from today's blog post by Mr. McGowan on the same subject:

Our newest DAC, DirectStream, ... has zero loss at any level setting–a major achievement. So, how could a control with zero resolution be suspect? That’s a question I have been mulling on for some time now.

One piece of the puzzle seems obvious. We know that tiny changes in the way internal FPGA process are organized make significant differences in sound. Even changes to the display affect sound quality. It’s a delicate process when jitter, power supply and the tiniest of changes can be heard and must be attended to. What’s to stop us from believing that different level settings have different sound qualities–despite the fact there are no measurable resolution losses?

Were it to be found true much would be explained. For instance, we know not all preamps sound better than DACs directly into power amps. In fact, most don’t. This observation lends credibility to the explanation that it is not preamps that make DACs sound better, rather, it is preamps helping DACs not sound worse. This theory can only be true if the preamp is of sufficient quality to add less degradation than using the DAC’s volume control. That all kind of makes sense.

But, just because something makes sense, doesn’t mean it’s true. How do we make this determination to see if this theory holds water?

Regards,
-- Al

Milpai, I have had a TVC using S&B transformers and now have an autoformer unit. As you know I am a fan of passive preamps in general and also own George's Lightspeed. They are all a bit finicky to work with but in the right system are great devices. I have been fortunate to have such a system.

However, a couple years ago I found the need for more gain in my system due to my increased use of analog vinyl and tape sources. So I turned to an active preamp for that purpose, and in my case one that is quite transparent. I still use my Lightspeed in a digital system I have set up, where it works flawlessly.