DAC instead of Pre-amp

Thanks all for your comments. In retrospect, I should have indicated what I'm running now. I have a fully modded Cayin TA-30 which I run with the volume full on making it a straight gain path. The pre-amp is a Signature TAD-150 which connects to the TA-30's CD inputs. I have a Squeezebox as one of the inputs to the TAD-150. The Squeezebox's built-in DAC is not anything to write home about and the digital sound is harshing my mellow :) I need a real DAC. So I began to think, wow that's a lot of hardware getting in between the source and the amp.

There is the Peachtree Nova with multiple digital and analog inputs. But it also has an amp built in. Would be nice if there were more pre-amp/dac combo options out there: a single place to manage your sources.

Is that what the new PS Audio PerfectWave DAC is?

Seriously consider Paul's new Tad Predac, it's supposed to be outstanding and betters the old Tadac

I'd like to weigh in here because I've been doing some experimenting lately and I think what I've heard might be helpful. I have owned a Meitner BiDat that has it's own volume regulator and, for years, I have run it directly into various amps via balanced cables. The clarity and articulation are stunning. HOWEVER, I have read few articles about preamps that convinced me to try a tube based preamplifier now that I've upgraded my speakers (Thiel CS3.7's). I was a complete skeptic but a buddy of mine in our local audio society brought over a VTL 5.5 tube preamp and we hooked it up. I was dumbfounded. The sound is more three dimensional, digital edge is reduced and the pacing is, for lack of a better term, more musical. I was dead set against this because now I have to buy a preamp and my budget is stretched. Now, I am sure that there are a whole host of preamps that might not improve your particular set up. I may have lucked out with the VTL. I plan on trying Musical Fidelity and Audio Research before I buy. Anyway, I thought you'd want to hear form a died-in-the-wool-who-needs-a-preamp skeptic like me.