double DAC conversion while using 'analog in' and 'analog out' in Connect

It is not about better or worse DAC
Well of course it is. If the signal has to go through a Sonos ADC and be reconverted to analog by the Sonos DAC you'll be suffering from whatever non-linearities are introduced by both DACs -- the CDP's and Sonos'. Frankly if you're concerned enough about things to be spending nearly £1000 on a CDP the last thing you should be doing is putting the signal through two more converters. Get a pre-amp, or even a decent quality passive input selector switch.

HI look for a possibility to use Connect as a preaplifier but without double conversion?

I need to plug in hi-end CD (with better DAC then Sonos) to power aplifier and would like to use Sonos as a preaplifier but without loosing quality.

It is possible?

I thought I'd revisit the original question. Perhaps it's worth stating explicitly that the Connect has absolutely no capability to act as a pre-amplifier. It's a wireless streamer and DAC. Whatever you decide to do, forget the idea of using the Connect as a pre-amplifier.

Well, yes, but in this context I suspect the OP thinks of a 'pre-amplifier' as being a device with line-level inputs and outputs, capable of switching between sources and with variable negative gain (aka a 'volume control').

With all due respect to the OP I think he perhaps ought to fully grasp how home audio works, including AD and DA conversion, before dropping close to £1000 on a new CD player.

. volume control is in Sonos only.

Maybe I've misread other threads around here, but I was under the impression that later Connects (after about 2011) may no longer be bit-perfect if you use the volume control. In which case, if the Connect is screwing with the bits anyway, I wouldn't worry about anything else... If you're worried about ultimate sound quality, then maybe spending the money on a pre-amp might be a better bet.

I accept your point about the complications inherent in making modern technology work, but would agree with others that buying an expensive CD player may not be the best way forward. Yes, it is a pain making sure that there's a charged device available to control Sonos, but is it really that difficult to keep a single device charged, purely for your own/Sonos use? Sonos makes it so easy to find and play music that I'd hate to be without it. Having said that, ripping a large CD collection is an absolute pain, taking many hundreds of hours, but IMHO it's been well worth the effort. The other benefit is that you can put your CDs away, freeing up space in the living room.

I thought I'd revisit the original question. Perhaps it's worth stating explicitly that the Connect has absolutely no capability to act as a pre-amplifier. It's a wireless streamer and DAC. Whatever you decide to do, forget the idea of using the Connect as a pre-amplifier.

If you can plug something into it, plug it into a power amp and use the Connect to control the volume and drive the amp, then it probably could be considered a pre-amp in some sense - I can understand the confusion.

I was under the impression that later Connects (after about 2011) may no longer be bit-perfect if you use the volume control.
The issue was that even without the volume control -- in Fixed Volume -- later CONNECTs were found to be not bit-perfect if normalisation tags were present. (Clearly with volume adjustment the device isn't bit-transparent anyway.)

I was under the impression that later Connects (after about 2011) may no longer be bit-perfect if you use the volume control.
The issue was that even without the volume control -- in Fixed Volume -- later CONNECTs were found to be not bit-perfect if normalisation tags were present. (Clearly with volume adjustment the device isn't bit-transparent anyway.)

Thanks for clarifying.

So, however old the OP's connect is, he's not going to get bit-perfect output if he uses the Sonos volume control. Doesn't really change the comment about using a pre-amp, then.

So, however old the OP's connect is, he's not going to get bit-perfect output if he uses the Sonos volume control.
The issue of bit-perfectness is irrelevant anyway, since the OP wants to go analog-in and analog-out. Bit-transparency only relates to digital output, derived from digital content delivered via the network (and conceivably via PLAYBAR's optical input).

So, however old the OP's connect is, he's not going to get bit-perfect output if he uses the Sonos volume control.
The issue of bit-perfectness is irrelevant anyway, since the OP wants to go analog-in and analog-out. Bit-transparency only relates to digital output, derived from digital content delivered via the network (and conceivably via PLAYBAR's optical input).

My mistake - I assumed that the only reason that the OP was going to buy such an expensive CD player was that they cared about quality - otherwise, they could buy any player if it was just for convenience. The proposal is that the OP uses a pre-amp, in which case why wouldn't they use a digital connection?

The proposal is that the OP uses a pre-amp, in which case why wouldn't they use a digital connection?
Because HiFi pre-amps conventionally don't have digital inputs. That's what an outboard DAC does. And in any case the CONNECT doesn't have a digital input, only PLAYBAR does. I'm not sure where all this is leading....