To Preamp or not to Preamp, that is my q


To Preamp or not to Preamp, that is my question. I have a Denon DCD-1650AR which is connected directly to a Parasound HCA-2200II via Maple Audio Ambiance interconnects. Yeah, I know, low-end gear compared to most of you guys, but it sounds pretty good to me...

My intent was (and is) to keep it as simple as possible and assumed that the more direct the path and the fewer components, the more "honest" the sound reproduction would be. As I say, it does sound very good to me. But could it sound better with the addition of a quality preamp? One other related question: Adding a Preamp obviously require another set of interconnects. Do the ones between the preamp and amp need to be of the same quality as used between the player and the preamp?

In your responses, keep in mind my minimalist philosophy. I would consider adding a decent quality preamp, but I am not interested in upgrading the player, separating it to transport/DAC etc. Simple is better for me. I have no other sources, so do not need any switching capability.

Kind regards...
phydeaux
A preamp can filter out alot of RF garbage that many lower mass market cd players produce (if I said that wrong go to Van Alstine's sight and they say it right) so a good preamp can make a system sound better. "Passive preamps" are technically passive control units. You probably would gain nothing with a passive control unit since your cd player would then have to drive two lengths of interconnect.
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Ezmeralda: "You probably would gain nothing with a passive preamp...."--thanks for the chucke! Yogi Berra.
In all instances where I have run a CD player directly into the power amp, the sound is NOT RIGHT. Imaging is screwed up, i.e., voice images were tall & unfocused, spread out over a diffuse area. Balance of instruments wrong--some instruments were more distant & smaller in image size & in volume than through a preamp. I wouldn't go without a preamp. Perhaps the preamps' volume controls create this, I don't know, but I do believe not all of these problems are due to the attentuator alone; I think passive creates its own impedance problems.
NO preamp is the best preamp in my opinion (deoendsing on how you like your source of course). I run the Audio Aero Capitole 24/192 CD player (it has volume control) direct to amps- by far the best. I even preferred the transparency over using it with my favorite preamp- the Hovland HP-100 (which is no slouch, and would gladly put it in the system if I needed a preamp). Good luck on the decision.