2. amps-preamps
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How hard is this on a tube pre amp?

I have an audio research ref2 mkII going in to a proceed hpa2. You know those low signal channels, the ones that sometimes you record awesome live shows from? Well.... I feel kinda uneasy cranking the pre past 12 to 1:00 on the dial, but 3 sounds prett dang sweet.. Am I driving the crap out of the tubes?

It's gotten better, ( louder signal ) since going balanced from the oppo 105. But still, some things really have to be cranked.
no_money
yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
5,741 posts
 
It's no big deal.preamp tubes last for years. I have my volume control almost at full gain and the tubes are over 6 years old . Preamp tubes are not expensive to replace.
yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
5,741 posts
 
BTW you are better off with the volume control in the upper area on the dial because it is more flexible that way.
jeffb28451
129 posts
 
Dial it up. No problems. I believe most, if not all, volume controls are actually attenuators and are more linear for stereo tracking (unless they are really fairly extravagantly designed and built) in the upper reaches.

I "slingshotted" pres together from a line stage to a TacT for years and unless you drive it into distortion, so what?
You can do the same thing from a tape deck with volume controls or by setting a phono pre a bit hot.
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