As a pre it is fairly unobtrusive if you want it to be but it is also very flexible. It has actual tone controls, that really work, but they can be bypassed. It has pre/main outs as Well as a separate subwoofer out with selectable analog bass management (can also be bypassed). The amplifier is quite powerful and quite neutral, lean toward the leaner rather than richer side of neutral. The USB DAC was not very good and my main use was using a computer as source. It also has a MM/MC phono stage but I never used mine since it was in the office. Hope this helps. I believe they have a 30 day trial no questions asked, at least they used to.