Thanks for that reply. My speakers are actually small floor standers and are setup around 8 feet away. I do not listen at extremely loud levels. There is some pretty noticeable hiss through the Sphynx amplifier. My main goal is to have dynamic sound at moderate listening levels with a low noise floor. That's one of the irritating problems with the Sphynx the noticeable hiss. I have a few headphone amps that can be used as preamps . MIcro Zotl tube amp, Schiit Jotenheim, Decware CSP.