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Running a CD player directly into power amps,

good, deleterious, dangerous or simply stupid? Since I never listen to my tuner, and am too lazy to bother with vinyl anymore and never got that tape deck (thank God!), can I go the direct route? An "audio consultant" (a.k.a "salesperson") told me it was unthinkable because of some mismatch in the output of one and the input of the other... He was trying to sell me a preamp. Since, long ago and far away in a different audio galaxy, it was believed that the shortest signal route (all other factors being otherwise equal) would provide the best, least degraded signal, I thought, and still think for that matter, that my idea is swell. A better CD player + a better power amp + new earthshaking speakers and voilà! Am I missing some great truth here?
pbb
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
You might or might not blow your speaker drivers depending on how powerful your amplifier is or depending on the output voltage of your CD-player. If your player produces no more than 1.5Volt in output than you'll probably have a loud but still listenable sound out of your speakers. It is a good practice to experiment with passive preamplifiers that attenuate a signal and give you an option to match output impedance of preamp with input impedance of power amp. The ideal case will be the infinite input impedance of power amplifier and zero output impedance of preamp. Things aren't ideal in this world so if your power amp has >=50kOhm input impedance, than you're OK with passive preamplifier which isn't realy amplifier since it doesn't have any gain. If you have a tube amp it'll work out great.
blackie
221 posts
 
I assume that your cd player has a variable output so that you can control volume. The sound will depend on the quality of the volume control of your cd player, length of cables it needs to drive and whether it's output is powerful enough to drive your power amp. It can work but in most situations a preamp of some sort will sound better.
fineberg
151 posts
 
Most modern CD players can run straight into an amp with no problem. However, the lack of volume control is often a real inconvenience. Some CD players have built in volumes to solve this very problem (a passive attenuator is another possible solution).
sean
6,231 posts
 
Yeah, i guess i should have commented that you will either need a variable output on the CD or input attenuators on the amp. Running line level out of the CD into most amps will either blow the speakers or the amp. So much for "assuming" : ) Sean
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jtinn
1,124 posts
 
I have recently found a CD player which bests the sound through a pre-amp and comes damn close to vinyl. If all you use is digital, the Audio Aero Capitole 24/192 may be perfect for your situation. It has a gain control with remote and has a huge amount of output (4.5v.) I hear no loss in dynamics and am obtaining much better clarity.

Call Jim at Chambers Audio, he is a gentleman and will be more than happy to take care of you. Tell him Jonathan says hello.
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