Does Supratek need Wadia? No insult meant toward Wadia owners. I am just trying to provoke a little "out-of-the-box" thought. Going direct from DAC to power amp means listening to one less component and one less set of internconnects. That doesn't necessarily mean you are hearing accurate, or transparent, or even realistic sound reproduction. You are still listening to the components in your signal path.
Consider this. It is very difficult for a solid-state output stage to reproduce the musical nuance, prescence, and tone that tubes do so well. FWIW, I have a Supratek Sauvignon preamp and before that I went direct from DAC to power amp. With the Supratek the noise floor of the recordings isn't so obvious but it is still quiet as a SS preamp, no tube rush, and I still have all the detail that I had with no preamp.
It doesn't even have to be a Supratek. First Sound and others make fine tube preamps also. I think your Clayton amps will mate well with a good tube preamp.
Consider this. It is very difficult for a solid-state output stage to reproduce the musical nuance, prescence, and tone that tubes do so well. FWIW, I have a Supratek Sauvignon preamp and before that I went direct from DAC to power amp. With the Supratek the noise floor of the recordings isn't so obvious but it is still quiet as a SS preamp, no tube rush, and I still have all the detail that I had with no preamp.
It doesn't even have to be a Supratek. First Sound and others make fine tube preamps also. I think your Clayton amps will mate well with a good tube preamp.