Hi all, new here so forgive me if this post is in the wrong place, but I am looking for some advice on my next acquisition. I have been a tube guy for a good while and certainly enjoyed that trip. However, I have recently bought an Aragon 2004 Power Amp and I like it a lot. Problem is... I have no preamp as all my prior gear was integrated. For my sins, I am only listening to Digital music these days (although HiDef) and so my only source is my Arcam rDac (or at least I have several digital sources, but they all feed through the rDac so the Amp only sees one source). As such I have no real need of source switching. Of course the other principle function of a Pre Amp is volume control. Today I am achieving this via software control at the digital level, but there are definite drawbacks to that as it means that lower volumes are effectively lower bit rates, defeating the purpose of the HiDef in the first place!
Several solutions present, one being investing in a more capable Dac with integrated preamp or perhaps even a Digital Volume Control (uses 35bit+ Dacs so that the loss of 5 or so bits does not impact the overall quality)...these options are expensive and I was hoping to stay south of $500 on my solution here (besides, I like my Dac). Of course, "passive preamps", seem to be the rage so perhaps that's an option, but these are basically just a variable resistor in a box and can cause impedance issues or so I a told. Then it occurs to me that Aragon must have made a matching pre-amp for the 2004 so perhaps that...
Well, what I hear is that they did indeed, the 24K, the 18K and then the Aurum...the 24K or the Aurum would be my preference (purely because I love the look), but I can't find any of these anywhere. To those that might know, I ask: do these things turn up relatively frequently, am I likely to find one within my target price if I am patient and is there another obvious solution that I am ignoring?
