I was running a dac3 into a s300 for a while and didn't really have any complaints, very neutral overall, tight bass. Then I got a Jolida 502brc, and in comparison, the dac3 to s300 sounded very flat and lifeless, and not as open,or detailed, but it may sound great in your system? Take the preamp out of the chain, if you think it sounds great, leave it out.
Bel Canto DAC3 without preamp
I have been driving a plinius sa100mkiii with a bel canto dac3 running in the preamp mode. Is there sonic repercussions when doing this? My initial thought was if I could take out a preamp, its just another piece in the chain that is takin out and not losing the signal. Thanks