2. amps-preamps
  3. 159198-11588

Is the preamp the “heart” of the system?

For many years my preamp was a passive devise. I was in love with the transparency. Then one day I to try an active one. With so many Stereophile “the best at any price” rave reviews I decided to go with the Audible Illusions M3B with the John Curl phono boards. I was thrilled! Finally I understood. They  sound finally had meat on the bones and a musicality that I was missing. And it was just as transparent! I guess the preamp IS the heart.

mglik
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brian_holmes's avatar
brian_holmes
45 posts
 
Pancreas?

Anyone?
verdantaudio's avatar
verdantaudio
1,500 posts
 
I found preamp to have a bigger impact on sound than I expected and matching with your amps is critical.  I have tried eliminating it via the preamp stage in a DAC and found it was a huge step down.

The preamp May add colorations, be less pure, add distortion, etc, etc...  I don’t particularly care.  My desire is to have an engaging and enjoyable system that delivers an extraordinary listening experience.   The “purer” the sound tends to be the less engaging on many recordings.  


isochronism
2,893 posts
 
The electricity provides the nutrition or energy. PCs are arteries. The source is the brain, thoughts. The preamp IS the heart.   The ICs are then other arteries. The amps are the muscle. SCs are veins. The speakers are the lungs, vocal cords, voice. The music is the soul that ties it all together with the soul of the artist-musicians.
oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,985 posts
 
Yes !!!  I have had a number of DACs and while all sounded great my system lacked the scale it had with my c-j tube pre.    It just sounds right.....
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