Budget External DACs vs. Yamaha AVR RX- V667

[spirovious]

If he connects DAC to 667 by RCA IC's, will it not eliminate the need of Power amp?

Yes,but I think he needs an amp for music.

 

[jagdish_p]

If he connects DAC to 667 by RCA IC's, will it not eliminate the need of Power amp?

The plan is to try out the Yamaha 667 initially with a DAC and add an Amp only if the SQ is not satisfactory. So the next step will be a decision on an Integrated Amp (with DAC feeding it directly) or a Power Amp being fed by pre outs of Yamaha 667. In any case I will take a final decision only after listening to the set up with DAC , Yamaha and new speakers set up.The immediate decision I have to take is on the DAC to be ordered.Tanks to all teh FM s for posting their valuable inputs

 

[Santy]

1. Out of all DACs mentioned here, only Emotiva has preamp I guess- its digital preamp and it has stepped resistor based volume control.

2. Yamaha's preamp is supposed to be based on a cheapo chip and not comparable to a dedicated preamp. They spent more money on the power section of the AVR. Even a buffer preamp can do a better job, IMHO.

3. So is the preamp in any entry to mid level DACs; ok for headphones not for power amps.

4. A decent integrated amp is usually better than AVR's amp of 2-3 times the price. There is no experiment actually needed by comparing them.

5. I suggest you go for NAD 356 amp with inbuilt DAC that is comparable to all the external DACs mentioned here.

 

[jagdish_p]

2. Yamaha's preamp is supposed to be based on a cheapo chip and not comparable to a dedicated preamp. They spent more money on the power section of the AVR. Even a buffer preamp can do a better job, IMHO.

3. So is the preamp in any entry to mid level DACs; ok for headphones not for power amps.

4. A decent integrated amp is usually better than AVR's amp of 2-3 times the price. There is no experiment actually needed by comparing them.

5. I suggest you go for NAD 356 amp with inbuilt DAC that is comparable to all the external DACs mentioned here.

Yes I have dropped the idea of using DAC with Preamp capability.
My other concern was on Yamaha's Preamp which you clarified above.

The NAD 356 with DAC module attached is approx 10 K costlier.
So it boils down to NAD DAC (10K) vs my shortlisted DAC- Tubemagic D2 (approx cost 18K).

Is Tubemagic D2 any better then NAD DAC? A number of reviewers have reported that there is no change in the Sound Signature even when tube output is selected.