How about the Emotiva XDA-2?

I have Emotiva gear, but not an XDA-2. Nonetheless, the folks at the EmotivaLounge.com claim that the XDA-2 is a noticeable step up from the XDA-1.

Since Emo has a 30 day in-home trial, why not buy one and see how it sounds in your system?

-RW-

Although I see your train of thought, I was wondering about using the XDA-2 as a preamp. Emotiva touts it as a preamp, but I was wondering if it was a real preamp, or more of just a line attenuator, like in a passive.

I've seen the remarks made at the Emotivalounge, but my guts tells me to take all of that with a grain of salt, or a larger grain of salt than I usually take with opinion.

In any case, my primary focus was on the XDA-2's performance as a digital pre amp.

Maybe I'll just have to take your advise and try it out, although I just bought a new pre amp, so it's importance has taken a bit of a back seat. Still, at $339, if it's an upgrade in sound quality, it's worth a look.

Tonyangel;

My experience tell me that you are best off with an analog preamp, and in my prejudiced opinion, a tubed preamp like an Audio Research.

I own the XDA-1 and agree it is excellent for the cash and is a good DAC. I don't think that even an improved (XDA-2) will outperform your NAD C162 as a pre-amp. The NAD is an excellent unit for the money and has a good phono stage if you ever get into vinyl. For under $400 I don't think you could beat the NAD. I also agree with Levchappy about analog pre-amps..