@smoorenc - yeah, I have an older Line Magnetic, LM502ca - really a wonderful piece and once you get the Chinese tubes out of it and toss in some "better" 12au7 or 5814A (Telefunken, Amperex, RCA clear tops, etc.) it really becomes shockingly good. I run tubes in my Linestage & Power Amp and sometimes it's a bit less dynamic than I'd prefer but for 99% of my listening its a glorious DAC & setup. All modest components compared to many on this site but, synergy between the gear in my main rack is fabulous.
Tube DACs
For some time I've assumed that tube DACS are meant for direct output to power amps -- in other words, no reason to use a tube DAC if you are running through a tube preamp (unless all components are by same mfr and designed for synergy).
But lately I have seen posts implying some run Brand A tube DAC through brand B tube preamp -- say, Primal Luna 100 to Rogue RP-9. Can't find any prior threads addressing this topic directly.
So, question: am I wrong to suppose that pairing random tube DAC A with random tube preamp B is a bad, or at least a silly idea, absent a known synergy?
S