Quote Originally Posted by mikmas View Post
Thank you David and Chris for the great responses and the info links, I had actually read the DADA article before which kind of prompted my original question. The situation I have at the moment is a bit of a different one in that I am currently (and temporarily) using the 303 as power amp with no connection to the 33 bar the 2 pin switched lead. I figured it would be wise to therefore get a second earthed lead for the 303 to use it in the combination given above and switch it seperately before using that set up any further. I can of course use the 33 mains lead but want to keep the 33 ready to go so I can change back to routing the DAC via the 33/303 combo - simply because unplugging the Bulgin from the 303 each time is a pain in the butt given where it is located on the housing.

This leads on to another question of whether a mains earthed 303 (used without the 33 at all) will require an isolated ground loop with the DAC and passive pre to prevent a whole different issue cropping up (mentioned in the responses on the DADA site) - i.e. meltdown!!!

I think for the moment I'll flip back to the 33/303 combo while I wait the postman with a 3 pin lead and look out for more info on using the 303 as a stand alone.
I will be very surprised if you get anything but perfect results with your DAC , passive pre and 303 with a 3 pin mains lead, however follow the advice of using a single power point. A LDR based preamp has the ability to
give you next to total silence, and this is the next path for you to take as it will reveal far more from your system than the usual losses associated with either switched resistors or L Pad potentiometers.

Cheers / Chris