2. amps-preamps
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Another dumb question

I was pleased with the improvement in quality I had noticed after adding a Bryston 4bst to my mains previously driven by the Yamaha DSP-a1's internal amps. The only drawback is that 4b seemed to require a higher volume setting on the Pre for the same spl as the DSP-a1.Then I borrowed a friends 4bst and bridged them for 800 watts per channel and the volume was less yet! This doesn't make sense. 800 vs 300 vs 110 watts? Hookups are rca and unbalanced was selected at amps. into Definitive tech bp10s. any help appreciated.
howdee
gthrush1
241 posts
 
It depends on what the gain value is for each amplifier.
audioman4
174 posts
 
I had a similar experience when I replaced my 2 channel aragon with aragon palladiums, which are monoblocks, with my bk ref 20 in my theater set up... I believe that the preamp section of the processor your using is not strong enough to give the max gain to the amps... yes the power doubled so there should be noticable gain difference.. but if the preamp is not capable of the gain control you would need to "turn it up" higher to get the same volume in db as before... I dont know technically why, but that is my personal experience.
Good Luck!
slartibartfast
100 posts
 
The input sensitivity of the amplifiers is different. Simply, the Bryston requires more input gain from the preamp to get them to "Go". The volume indicator on your preamp is a very poor measure of how loud your system is going to play, especially when swapping amps around that have different input sensitivities.
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