Bit the bullet and added the preamp. The end up front: I am keeping it to replace my Stellar gold pre.
Now, some random observations. I would Never have looked at the bottom (at least intentionally) were it not for forum posts. It is greatly improved over my PMG DAC, but I don’t care.
Clearly PS Audio was looking to build a set of components to work together. Then why:
Do I not have the option to set DAC as one of my input names. PSA doesn’t even sell a CD or SACD transport with a built in DAC but those are available names. So my DAC feeds BOTH streaming and CD/SACD from my transport. With an integrated setup, one would likely set the DAC to a fixed volume and forget it but now both of my PMG units proudly display in humongous type the volume. As others have noted, I would really have the DAC display in type I can read what it is good at: sample rate/bit depth of the source.
Why are there even vents on the top of the DAC and pre? My instant read thermometer indicates only a two degree difference between the front face and the back of the top of the pre. I presume stacking in any order of the four units would not be an issue..
Why do both the DAC and pre have only trigger out ports. Perhaps not a big deal with the new wireless remote that can turn them (and other) units in and out of standby but what if you just took a record off and were shutting down for the night and the remote was at you listening spot. Now you have to push multiple standby buttons.
Why does the (at least old) transport have no trigger ports? And can someone confirm that the transport’s read laser is only on when actually reading a disc.
Minor quibbles all. And finally, I hope they are not delaying release of the phono stage for fear of possibly overloading tech support. That is the one I really wanted from the get go.
It makes absolutely no sense to me that PSA offers things like DVD and BLU-RAY as options to name inputs on their preamps but not DAC. Even better why not just offer the option to type in your own choice.
To explain a couple of features and feature omissions - some people use a DAC without a preamp so there are trigger outs on both models so they can be used to power on/off amplifiers which don’t have remote control support built-in. This avoids having to power on the unit via the front logo button. You can power on and control the transport with the included remote so a trigger input isn’t required.
I will talk to our PM and software folks about the input naming issue. Thanks for the feedback!
I hope you like the preamp! I think it’s probably the best sounding component we’ve ever made.
Well, Chris is definitely wrong here. I have owned the gambit from Sprout through the Stellar range including gold DAC and pre and now two of the four PMG. Without question the real game changer has been the FR20’s (and I haven’t yet heard the FR30’s). Paul’s genius is in identifying gifted talent and giving them free reign.
