Ps Audio BHK preamp Vs ARC best preamps

Mario I also use a DSD directly to an ARC 100.2 and with a balanced connection is dead quiet.  I must admit that I am also curious about adding the BHK pre.  On the PS Audio forums there are a few posts where ARC pre's are removed and the DSD is connected directly to the amp and they all agreed it sounded better.

 

Mario, it seems that no preamp is the way to go, but I must tell you that Paul McGowan the owner of PS Audio says that  he finds that using a BHK preamp sounds better than not using one.  Of course he wants people to buy his preamps, but if you can borrow one from a dealer or friend I would try it out and see what you think.

Thanks to all for your advices and suggestions, and yes, I've heard that a lot of people gave up in using preamps, especially in the case of DSd which has been specifically designed, when Mr McGowan didn't sell preamps and he was absolutely convinced that that was the right way to go, to work in this modality.

And yes, the way is to wait for the arrival of my BHK 250, to listen what will happen then and in case to have a BHK preamp borrowed by my dealer and investigate what will be the differences, 6000 $ in addition apart ;-)...


Mario

I've owned the DSD, Bricasti M1, Jeff Rowland Aeris, and now the Chord Dave DAC. In my "opinion" none of them sound good direct...the soundstage collapses and dynamics are lost.

Mario, we are not too far away from Paul's shop here in Colorado and we plan to drop in sometime soon anyway. What's your time frame? We can try the actual test with an without the pre and report findings back... His listening room with the IRS Vs is quite good and revealing. Paul would probably dig the experiment.