I would first get DAC with USB 24/96 capabilities to play hi-rez files from your PC and than get something cheap with digital out for red book CD playback.
Source vs. DAC vs. Preamp Importance?
Current Setup:
1. PSB Synchrony 2 Spkrs
2. Parasound Halo A21 Amp
3. Marantz AVR as a preamp
4. No Source yet (looking for a CDP)
I have 2000$ left to complete my setup. I was looking at a decent CDP w/preamp like the Audiolab 8200CDQ....but also thought maybe keep the AVR as a preamp and spend the 2000$ on a better used CDP only? The problem with the AVR is that it won't pass through a signal, it would convert A-D and then D-A before sending signal to my amp, how much would that degrade the sound from a good CDP? Is it better to get a great CDP and run it through an AVR's DAC....or get a pretty good CDP w/pretty good built in preamp?
If I had this to do over again I would have spent more evenly across all components. I am a newbie and any advice would be much appreciated!
1. PSB Synchrony 2 Spkrs
2. Parasound Halo A21 Amp
3. Marantz AVR as a preamp
4. No Source yet (looking for a CDP)
I have 2000$ left to complete my setup. I was looking at a decent CDP w/preamp like the Audiolab 8200CDQ....but also thought maybe keep the AVR as a preamp and spend the 2000$ on a better used CDP only? The problem with the AVR is that it won't pass through a signal, it would convert A-D and then D-A before sending signal to my amp, how much would that degrade the sound from a good CDP? Is it better to get a great CDP and run it through an AVR's DAC....or get a pretty good CDP w/pretty good built in preamp?
If I had this to do over again I would have spent more evenly across all components. I am a newbie and any advice would be much appreciated!