Not sure I’ve seen a manufacturer with a source direct option that doesn’t claim their unit runs best without a pre in the way. In theory it’s the way to go…
had some decent stuff through the door here, Wadia, dCS and the like, have yet to hear a source with a volume control that didn’t sound better via a good pre.
Worth experimenting before you commit if you’re in a position to do so
I agree.
If you have a DAC that has volume a pre can only add interference.
Loads of posts on headfi and mixed opinion but I can’t see an amp adds anything but distortion. Some may like the colour but it isn’t needed to achieve the end result.
You are just amplifying a signal that is already amplified. The Hugo has a line out if needed but a pre isn’t necessary.
Generalising a bit, you can end up with frequency extremes rolled off and other shenanigans that will make the system sound odd if the impedance match between the output and the next input in line (ie source to pre, pre to power etc) is inappropriate. The effective output impedance of the source needs to be far enough below the input impedance of the amp it’s driving that it isn’t trying to supply much current at all, which is when probs could occur. Sometimes a preamp, which should have a good high input impedance and low output impedance, is needed as a buffer (besides giving a volume control). A passive pre won’t help unless there’s already enough headroom between the source and power amp, in which case it is only acting as a volume control anyway.
The professionals around here (@coco, @murrayjohnson, @sjs and others) would explain this more clearly. IIRC the difference to aim for is something like a factor of 1k to 10k or more. I looked into it because I run an A-I P2 direct into Second Audio monos, which seems to work okay, but I’ve never tried a really good pre in between. The P2’s gain is high enough and its volume pot is upstream of its output stage, so it acts rather like a full-function pre with only a phono input anyway…
You have a pre-amp, try it.
This. Theory has nothing that experience can’t trump.
I will.
When it’s arrived and plugged in! And I’m in the same country!
This can be true but bare in mind you are replacing one interference with another and the implementation of the volume control is an important source of distortion. A decent pre often has a better implemented volume control and as husky981 points out achieves a better impedance match between the components.
In the same way the volume controls aren’t all created equal neither are pre’s hence the suggestion to experiment
I think it’s pretty much all in the impedance matching, although I don’t fully understand why. I have heard systems that were technically correct still sound better with a pre added, and that’s better in terms of resolution and dynamics, not a nice-sounding sheen of distortion.
really?
You don’t think you could hear a difference between these volume controls?
You can hear a difference in the Wadia volume control by pushing a button and changing the algorithm!
When I was buying the Nagra cd player, I was very fortunate to have both the fixed output and the variable output versions side-by-side to compare.
I bought the fixed output version because it sounded far better going through my Jeff Rowland pre than the variable one going direct to the power amps.
I’ll have a tinker. The designer is adamant that amplification can only add uneccesary steps in a chain…
But sound quality is subjective!
Diito - Tried umpteen digital volume controls (Wadia, Levinson, Oppo, Auralic etc) - a good pre shits all over the lot of em.
This is the same designer that puts a delay in DACs and reads the digital stream into memory and then checks it. The theory is great, except they sound better when this feature is switched off when I tried a Chord 64.
Yet to hear any digital volume control included in a DAC that is anywhere near a good pre. I have owned Mark Levinson 390S, Wadia 861SE, Audio Synthesis DAX Descrete & Decade, etc… and heard many more. A Croft Super Micro beats all their volume controls.
The Krell KPS25S uses an analogue pre attached, so it’s not the same (effectively a Krell KRC2).
Beat me to it! How many decent analogue preamps do Chord make? 
Digital volume control systems probably use different systems for shaping the dither; I find this very easy to spot, normally - was when I had the dcS thingy