tenorisYes very much so, as Nelson says below, your throwing away much of the sources output level by turning down the volume of the AR, so the tube gain stage of the AR preamp can make it back up again, which means noise figures are worse, with added distortion.
Does this affect the signal quality
Perfect reason to go direct if you dac has volume or just get a good passive.
Nelson Pass,
“We’ve got lots of gain in our electronics. More gain than some of us need or want. At least 10 db more.
Think of it this way: If you are running your volume control down around 9 o’clock, you are actually throwing away signal level so that a subsequent gain stage can make it back up.
Routinely DIYers opt to make themselves a “passive preamp” - just an input selector and a volume control.
What could be better? Hardly any noise or distortion added by these simple passive parts. No feedback, no worrying about what type of capacitors – just musical perfection.
And yet there are guys out there who don’t care for the result. “It sucks the life out of the music”, is a commonly heard refrain (really - I’m being serious here!). Maybe they are reacting psychologically to the need to turn the volume control up compared to an active preamp.”
Cheers George