will
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I think either would work well, but that is not the whole story to me.
First, relative to your questions.... I have not used a sub for a really long time. But as I recall, for the best sound, I am pretty sure most who talk about it on this forum use speaker level out even when they have the option for line level out... Hopefully someone in the know will comment on this.
Also, I am a huge fan of two gain stages personally. In fact I typically use what are in effect three gains....a ZBIT (adjustable balanced out from DAC, wide open is the DAC voltage out, so gain adjustment is attenuation, but quite useful for balancing gains), a CSP3, and a Torii. I have never used my Zstage or CSP3 for a volume control, instead using them as gain balancing adjustments for "gain riding." In my case, the Torii IV sounds more-or-less neutral at different volumes, so to me it is the best "volume control." Whereas, the pre stages I use, especially the CSP3, there is a quite meaningful amount of tonal/density variation depending on the voltage out of the CSP3, and how that effects the amp sound. This can be a great tool if baseline gains are set between them to be about neutral, and then adjust the CSP3 to tune/optimize the signal intensity as a means of improving on the many different recording styles we hear.
Keeping an optimal listening volume while riding the gains between the CSP3 and Torii, more CSP3/less Torii, gives a more intense signal...more density, weight, dynamics, more bass and more lucidity....better for leaner recordings. And less CSP3/more amp gain, the signal goes lighter, leaner, less intensity of weight, bass, dynamics, lucidity.....better for thicker recordings. I have mine tuned so that I can go too lean and too intense, giving a wide range in the middle for gain tuning on the fly, often making a few little adjustments for most albums at this point.
The other thing about too many or not enough gains seems to depend a lot on the setup and the transparency of the gain stages, and the system/room in general. My CSP3 is highly modified, but before I started working on it, with open/revealing tube sets, I found it had a sound for sure, but one I liked, one that improved my sense of "realness" and listening immersion.....especially loving its lucidity within its relative transparency as a gain balancing tool....
Just a few more thoughts, but guessing out loud....I personally would probably choose a CSP3 and SE84 over a Rachel if my speakers were efficient enough.
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