2. amps-preamps
  3. 148665-78452

Need a preamp?

Hi all, 

I have an older Cary tube preamp and a Bob Latino ST70 with a built in attenuator driving a pair of Proac D30R. The combo seems to be a tad too warm so I tried using the amp without the preamp and it seems to sound better with a wider soundstage and more extended highs. I have a phono amp also so I can also listen to LPs and cds. Is there a reason I need a preamp other than the convenience of switching between the two?  Would a ss preamp or passive preamp add to the sound?  I presume any preamp would only degrade the quality and can't make it better than it is. 


jaferd
jaferd OP
44 posts
 
So I got the Schiit sys but it seemed to have muted the top end. Didn't sound as lively even with the volume turned all the way up. Waiting for my switch box to see how that performs (or ideally not perform 😉). Currently I have my itune from MacBook airplay to airport express and optical link to dacmagic and then directly to the amp. Using the itune volume control, I'm running amp at full volume. This has given me the best sound to my ear at least.  Unfortunately,  the airplay limits transfer to 44khz so best I can get is 16/44 and not the higher resolution files.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,846 posts
 
So I got the Schiit sys but it seemed to have muted the top end. Didn't sound as lively even with the volume turned all the way up.
This is also a common complaint of passive controls. I'll be interested to hear what you think of the switchbox.
milpai's avatar
milpai
2,407 posts
 
@jaferd,How are the dynamics with the Sys?

sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
Ralph, any downside to source switching with CMOS electronic switches instead of relays? 
jaferd OP
44 posts
 
@milpai, I didn't listen to it very critically when I realized right away that it didn't sound completely transparent. I want to say maybe a tad less dynamic but YMMV. My feeling is that a preamp or anything that is introduced to a signal can only degrade it so I wasn't completely surprised. I even think a switch box wont be as good as without anything but the degradation may not be noticeable to me. I think a preamp that "improves" the sound just means that it added some colouration and/or minimized some faults to the source signal so that it sounded nicer to the reviewer. I'm sure my taste for tube sound is nothing like what the source really sounds like without any colouration. My 2 cents. 
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