Sekrit DSi vs Unidisk SC as a preamp

[Bugi666]

Is there anyone who could shed some light on this?

I have Unidisk SC, which I use mainly for playing the music from my PC, and watching the movies. So, having it only for this, is a bit over the top.

However, if I'd like to replace it with let say MDS, I'd loose the chance to play movies from my PC as I understand it. I would also loose preamp volume control.

I had a brief look at Sekrit DSi and it's almost ideal (MDSi is ideal, but way over my budget). Using Sekrit I could stream music from NAS (or PC), and play videos from PC (connected to toslink of SDSi).

I'm just wondering how good is the preamp in SDSi - or in general, would you consider swapping to SDSi "reasonable" or not? - based on both, music quality, and the fact I only use USC as a DAC effectively?

[chimar]

The SDSi will do what you need! I'd ask your dealer for a loan of one for a few days for you to decide!

[Bugi666]

I think the only thing is missing is the 5.1 capability - I don't see myself building home cinema in the nearest future, but I was already thinking about getting some centre channel speaker, as on some movies it's a nightmare to hear the dialogue ...

[ToneDeff]

Yep, only two drawers (1 left and 1 right) in the Secretary DSi as opposed to the 5 drawers and a cupboard in the Unidesk.

Center speakers are important IMHO.

[Bugi666]

most of my friends tried to tell me (without listening to my setup) that I NEED a sub. I don't know why, but I really don't feel it just now - Ninkas output is satisfying my bass requirements... But i have realised that watching movies with the sound from TV is quite often "easier" (forgetting about quality) as you don't need to ramp up the volume unnecessarily to hear what actors say ...

First of all, I need to check/repair my Unidesk, as it's right drawer doesn't fully open anymore (((