Does a preamp have enough power to drive small speakers on its own? Could preamp output be mated to an impedance adjusting "black box" to bypass a main amp? I've seen many preamps (Cary comes to mind) that look like they could do it.
Preamps by themselves don't have the current to drive low impedance loads nor the output voltage to drive high impedance loads. If another driver (gain) stage is added, it can be done - then it would be called an integrated amp :)
I have a McIntosh C34V pre which I bought new (and it still looks and sounds the same as day 1) which has a built in 20W/ch amp. While designed for headphones, Mac included speaker terminals on the rear of the pre. A nice, handy little touch.
Thanks for all responses! I know this query is kind of off-the-wall but thought it would be interesting. If you've ever seen the guts of a BAT 50SE preamp, you'll know why driving tiny speakers shouldn't be unreasonable.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.