Preamp sending amp into protect


Hello everyone,
I recently took delivery of a Denafrips Athena preamp and their Apollo power amp, as well as a Lumin U1 Mini and an Ares 2 DAC. When the amp is connected via xlr outs to the preamp, it goes into protect within a few seconds. However, when connected directly to the Ares 2 DAC, everything is working as it should. Before I got the amp in I was using the xlr outs of the preamp to connect a set of powered monitors, which worked fine. I’m confused as to what would cause this issue with the preamp and amp combo. Any help would be appreciated.
jdown88
It's possible the pre has an ultrasonic oscillation happening. As the name implies, you can't hear it, or it could have a strong DC offset which the amp, if it is DC coupled, is responding to. You can test for the later with a DC meter on the preamp or amp outs. :)
Same brand amp fails fed by their own pre?
Time for support from the manufacturer.
Hope you understand Mandarin.



Did you try reaching out to Alvin as he is a better source than this forum of non owners.
Went through some troubleshooting steps with Alvin and the NA repair rep and it seems this only happens when the left channel on the amp is connected to the preamp. Connecting just the right has no problems