Hello Andrew,

Benchmark DACs were designed to give the most accurate digital conversion possible along with the ability to drive active speakers and amplifiers  without the need of a preamplifier. Our DACs can deliver over 20Vrms through the balanced XLR outputs.  The unbalanced RCA outputs deliver up to 2.75Vrms which is more than needed to drive any consumer power amp  that I know of, to full output. In your case, the amp will put out its rated power with an input of 1.85Vrms.  There will be absolutely no compromise in sound whatsoever. 

You are correct that tube preamps impart a certain character to the music, some more than others. They also usually have higher noise than solid state preamps. Our desire, is to offer the most accurate digital front end along with extremely low noise and distortion. Our goal is that our equipment be as neutral as possible, imparting no sound of its own. We have many, many customers that are using our DACs as the preamp in their systems. Some have replaced very pricey and well respected products for the simplicity and sonic improvement that our units offer. I know that our DAC will mate very well with your amplifier and I believe that you'll be delighted with the increased level of performance that it offers.

The best way for you to make a decision is to hear a particular piece of gear in your home, on your system. This can be arranged with your Benchmark dealer or directly with us. On direct sales, within the U.S., we offer a 30 day hassle-free return policy. If, after listening to our DAC, you don't find that it has made an appreciable improvement to your system, you may return the unit for a full refund of the purchase price.

I hope this helped.

Best regards,

Rory Rall, Sales Mgr.                                                                                                                                                                                             

Benchmark Media Systems, Inc.

I throw out the pre-amp, the output of the DAC1 is more than sufficient to drive my mono blocks. In my case, eliminating a box of electronics improved transparency.

Perhaps a bit late in responding to your question but here goes. I had a very good McIntosh C220 preamp in my system along with a benchmark usb dac1. I much preferred the sound of the benchmark dac direct to my McIntosh MC-275 tube amp and so I sold my pre-amp and late bought the benchmark HDR as I wanted to be able to connect my tuner to my system. The HDR has both rca and balanced connectivity so it will work with virtually any music system. If, you need more connections like video, etc, then a preamp is necessary. Hope this helped?

Bill 

My system
Front End - Benchmark Dac 1 Pre
Pre - Mark Levison 380s
Power - Mark Levinson 334
 Speaker - B&W 804

The sound reproduced from Levinson amp with a pre-amp bypassed is far transparent than the one with pre-amp in the chain. I experimented the whole system with and without Levinson's preamp integrated for a while.

with Levinson's pre-amp  : I notice a darker tone...on both treble and bass. 
w/o Levinson's pre-amp : a lot wider soundstage reproduce. even an average person notice difference immediately.
let's say it's much more transparent

I am now pondering over selling my 380s.....preamp
My Biggest question :

1-) will it be a good idea to integrate Levinson's preamp in the system.
Or, is it a fallacy to have an expensive preamp? as i have no background in electronic engineer. why do we need preamp?

2-) Adding another electronic device in the reproduction chain will not improve but degrade sound integrity even more.
So for the best, I should connect a Dac 1 Pre direct to power amp to minimize any distortion however small rather than allowing Preamp to magnify further distortion produced by Dac 1...

I originally used a McIntosh C220 preamp in my digital music system but sold it after purchasing a Benchmark HDR. Found the sound to be much improved in regards to clarity than with the preamp in my system. My McIntosh MC-275 amp is directly connected via balanced cable to my Benchmark HDR. As I only need one other input in my system for my MR-71 tuner, the HDR fills this need, however if additional connectivity is needed for a record player or other analogue connection, a preamp is necessary. My two cents worth!

Bill