...A few cents more. Many of the respondents have made valid points concerning the use of a CD Player to direct drive a power amp, but a few points of clarification are in order. None of the Wadia units, cd players or processors, use analog volume control. All Wadia products use pure digital control. The "Throwing away of bits" issue is relative to units with fixed variable output. By this I mean that at maximum output, the unit will pass X volts, period. Wadia uses adjustable output via internal dip switches which can be configured to give the optimum output at maximum resolution depending upon the rest of the components in one's system, without throwing away bits at low volume levels. I know of no other line of products which are able to be adjusted to match maximum output to the other gear in the system to allow max resolution at customary listening levels. Units such as the Levinson #39, Theta Miles, CAL CL-15 and so on ,use analog volume controls for adjustable gain. IMHO, any Pre-Amp and extra interconnect in the signal path will degrade the sound of the signal by the time it reaches the speakers drivers and ultimately, your ears. There is no way that electrical signals can be passed through so much additional wire, circuitry, interconnect cables and the like ,without the basic character of the signal changing, however slight this may be. Wadia products may be configured with multiple digital inputs and outputs, and can be used in conjunction with a high quality A/D converter for the importation of other analog sources for the person who wishes to use one of their units as a digital source, switching device and volume control in lieu of a conventional pre-amp. If you like networked cables, tubes, application specific cables, super power cords or whatever, realize that they all will color the sound, it will not be accurate, but I am not saying that accurate neutrality is to everyone's taste...we like what we like, that's the first rule of enjoying this hobby. If it sounds good to you, then it is.
CD direct to Amp/Current TAS issue ?
In the current issue of the Absolute Sound, the reviewers are asked to put together reccomended systems within certain price ranges (this is a great issue, BTW). One of the reccomended systems has an amp and CD player, but no preamp. The reviewer says something to the effect of "Because the CD player has an analog output level control, a preamp is not required and that money can be put into other areas of the system." Does this work with any CD player/Amp combination as long as the CD has an output level control? Is there any risk of damaging the amp or speakers by using this "no preamp" configuration? Other than being limited to only one input source, are there any drawbacks to going direct to amp? I appreciate any light you can shed on this subject, especially if any of you are actually running your systems in this configuration.