I went in to the pro shop at lunchtime to get the DCB1 back to use with the Krell. The engineer comes out of his little room and says 'I've got bad news for you.'

I thought he'd blown it up or lost it or dropped something on it and smashed it or something. But he produces it and it looks fine.

Then the owner comes out and asks me 'How much did you pay for this?' In truth I don't remember but it wasn't a lot. He says 'It doesn't amplify! It's just a connection box with a volume pot!'

I told him I knew that - you're getting 2 volts out of the DAC you don't need to amplify it again. They couldn't get their heads around the idea of a zero-gain active pre-amp at all. They thought I was some hi-fi mug punter who'd been ripped off.

I said 'This was designed by Nelson Pass you know.'

'Never heard of him.'

'Designed for Adcom? Threshold? Pass Labs?'

'Never heard of them.'

Gotta love the pro boys.