[Operandi]

In the near future I'm going to be in the market for a DAC, preamp, and headphone amp. I'd like to spend no more than roughly $500 - $600 on this, being one piece of equipment or a combination of separate units. This will all be going on my desk so I also need to take into a account size.

Right no I'm looking at Firestone Audio stuff, specifically the Tube Head preamp, the Spitfire DAC, and one of the Encore amps. I wanted to try a tube preamp so the Tube Head has that quality The Spitfire for 24bit capabilities which could come in handy for future audio formats, and the optical and coax offer some flexibility.

I'm currently in the process of building up some fairly high-end speakers (Dayton RS drivers in case anyone wants to know) so I have probably about a month to find some solutions before the speakers will be ready.

My questions are; are they any other solutions that would fit my requirements and budget? And if I go with the combination of Firestone gear would using a RCA Y adapter to get the signal to both the Tube Head and Encore reduce the sound quality at all?

 

[DocHamm]

Ditto on needing gear...

I've accumulated equipment and I'm not getting to the listening under my current working/living conditions. Consequently, I am clearing out the old and working towards the new. I've been gleaning all I can from the great head-fiers, reviews and other headphone/audiophile sites, but want to hear more info and opinions on the Firestone stuff, as well as similar equipment.

I posted a few Firestone reviews in another thread that might interest you. I've also been checking out similar equipment such as ...

Trends Audio USB DAC UD-10: TNT-Audio and 6moons
Winsome Labs Mouse: 6moons
T-Amp Gen 2: ThinkGeek

I'm still shopping, but thus far I like the Firestone for my main work rig. I like what I've heard about the Spitfire, but I may buy a Fubar III Amp/DAC to start and go from there. Let me know how you end up.

 

[Operandi]

Yeah, I was originally just going to go with the Fubar III and call it good but now I'm thinking I may want more flexibility than just the USB 16bit 48khz, I wanted to try some 24 bit 96khz vinyl rips. Being one unit also means I can't upgrade anything and I'd have to essentially start over if I did choose to upgrade.

Really the biggest problem is finding a good preamp that will fit my desk/budget, good DACs and headphone amps aren't exactly uncommon. Dose anyone have any suggestions for good preamps similar in price in size to the Tube Head? Inclusion of a headphone output would be a nice bonus.