wht does a preamp do?


I had been running my wadia cd player direcrlty into my amplifiers. I just added a preamp and am very surprized at the differnce. The bass tightness and frequenct extension are very different. I am also hearing a 3 dimensionality that i never heard before. clearly a preamp is not just a volume control. Wht else is it doing to change the soundstaging so dramatically?

Rum
rumney510
Friend

The preamplifier (a well engineered one)is a dedicated unit that will capture the finest nuances of a performance and transfer the same to the amplifier. It is unfair to expect a cd player alone to be able to accomplish that mission. Open your Wadia, and open your preamplifier and compare. The player has atleast 1/3rd of the box dedicated to drawer and laser assembly, another 1/3rd for power supply and almost another 1/3rd for digital processing. Notice I said almost! Well, whatever is left is allowed for a tiny output section.

Now look at the preamp. 1/3rd dedicated for power supply, and the rest dedicated to preamplification.

Studio1
What preamp did you buy?? I have a wadia 850 and I feel that the wadia is much better directly to the amp. imo
I have a wadia 861. Got a MBL preamp. The differnce is very dramatic. I got the preamp for vinyl, but the CD difference is more than I ever thought possible. Highly recommend getting a preamp

Rum