[davvy]

Wondering if anyone has any experience using the Citypulse 2.03 DAC as a preamp for a speaker setup ?

I am trying to simplify + improve my current living room setup:
PC --> Zhaolu 1.3 DAC --> Acurus preamp --> Acurus power amp --> Infinity alpha 40 (large tower) speakers

The idea is to replace the Zhaolu DAC and the preamp with the Citypulse so that I end up with:
PC --> Citypulse --> Acurus power amp --> speakers

That way I get a better DAC, a remote control and one less component.

But I have heard a couple of negative reports about the variable output of the Citypulse. One person found the treble "sibilant" and the other complained of some hiss.

 

[davvy]

anyone (please) ?

Or does anyone have any suggestions for something better that can act as a DAC and a preamp and has a remote ?

 

[davvy]

OK well now I can answer my own question. Just picked up one of these in Hong Kong.

The answer is YES. It works very well as a preamp. Connected directly to a power amp, there are no loud noises on powering on or off, the sound quality is good and the volume control works well.

In fact I am pretty impressed with the unit all round. The build quality is good, it has a high quality DAC, the remote control is stylish and it even has a pretty good headphone amp built in.