Analyzing DACs

"Regarding problems with cheap gear there are plenty of posts here about expensive gear needing repair" The only expensive gear I know of that got a good recommendation is the Tambaqui.
Are you aware that with one particular piece of equipment 38% of purchasers complained? You get what you pay for.

@laoman : that if I recall was the $349 Topping Class D amp. A new product. ASR considers the $3K Benchmark ABH2 amp to be the best in their survey. They rate the Benchmark DAC to be in their top class. 

@jasonbourne52 do you own any Benchmark equipment?

Again benchmark Amps measure well on ASR but in reality they leave a bit to be desired. As far as the Topping Amp goes, that is reflective of the poor materials this company uses. This amp is not the only piece of equipment from that company that has problems. However, again you were told this.

It’s great that you are asking a question about a new hobby but you also need to know some of the people you asking and if you should believe them or not.

ASR is a joke. Stereophile is a joke, tell me a review of any product that had a negative outcome, every product they review is the best of the best. Also, jasonbourne posts are all the same, if you spend more than $500 you spent too much.

Now, to answer your question about if you need a preamp or can you hook up the dac straight to the amp, it all depends. If you go jasonbournes way and go cheap, you are most likely going to need a preamp because they will go cheap on the volume control section and it will be noisy AND the dac might not have the range to  control the amps output. If you go with a much better dac (I paid over $8000 for mine), it has a quiet volume control and provides an attenuate button so you can properly control any amp. I sold my 5-digit preamp when I purchased this dac because my system sounded better without it and my volume setting is in the sweet spot of control.