Ok, found a good comparison and its clear, the Yamaha WXA-50 vs WXC-50 difference is that the "A" is the amplifier version and the "C" is the pre-amp version. So the "C" is more what I'm looking for. $350 new. No room correction, and not sure how the sub-out operates or if it has any sort of filtering (high/low pass) or how the volume pot effects all the outputs, so will look into that. If someone owns one, would love to know your thoughts.
And so far, I've yet to see something for less than $350 that does what the Yammy WXC-50 is doing. All those DAC options with volume knobs are in the same price range too it seems; and most of them lack a sub-out option.
Then again, Emotiva is going to drop their replacement to the TP-100 soon, so that will be very interesting in this same price category and functionality. I'd probably get the TP-100 if it were not discontinued, but their website says they're about to replace it with a new one.
Very best,