I had a Levinson 39 and then a new 390S straight into a Conrad Johnson Premier 11a and B&W Signature 30s for 10 years of musical happiness. The analog volume control in both was very very good. As good as my new CJ Premier 16LS, not quite but if you are looking for simplicity and very good quality this worked well for me. Better than a 3000 dollr preamp and a 3000 dollar CD player would have at the time, which was a long time ago and digital has no doubt improved some since then but if all you want to play are CDs this is a cost effective high value way to go. I used a transparent music link super IC which wasn't as good as the Cardas Golden Reference I use now. The Cardas isn't as bright and is slightly warmer over all which is what my ear prefers.
