I just looked up some of the DP-1200’s online and I’m actually kind of shocked. I payed about $40 for it but I suppose time is flying by quickly. It was in really rough shape and took a lot of love to get it working. I just meant to say it not a McIntosh! I suppose it’s all relative though. As far as my parameters go, I don’t get too technical with it. There are tons of reviews where people show with various instruments why some devices sound better and I don’t like them. Others show why some are bad and I do like them. That being said I think the best for me is if I like it. I tried it with several different artists from different genres and different speed records. I also played with the settings on both the receiver and the Box X4. I liked the warm sound and the clarity that it gave to the sound that simply wasn’t there with the receiver. That being said the receiver is a 25 year old budget model that came with the speakers so I would assume that anything would be an improvement over the internal phono preamp. I look forward to trying out other preamps so I can compare, but I will probably look for a better amplifier to replace the receiver first. I’m relatively new to the testing game so I hope that answers your question.
