Reubent
first of all, thanks for taking the time to respond...my explanation was indeed confounding and anyone who took a peek just blew it by.
what i was doing , was inserting the preamp between the CD player and the receiver ( receiver did not have a bypass for its built in preamp) and then also hooking the receiver speaker OUT to the preamp IN and controlling the tone, volume, balance using the preamp and receiver controls...I know this defies rational audio behavior but somehow it worked...for instance on Kinks "village green preservation society" which always sounded disappointing on my entry level audio, now suddenly the soundstage opened up and the imaging revealed instruments that heretofore seemed hidden...
the same on other CDs..
i fool around with the controls of both the dynaco PAT 5 preamp and the Optimus STAV 3000 receiver . the rest of the set up is a Denon CD changer DCM 370 and usie a pair of NHT zeroes and BIC venturi 620s
once again, thanks so much responding. By the way, i am looking for used audiophile speakers... i went to a audiophile store recently to hear what high end sounded like and was blown away by the totem hawks so i am looking for something similar but used at a more affordable price...say about $700-$1000...it seems almost impossible to outbid people on ebay or even know what a steal is. Apparently everyone uses the shark, craiglist, ebay to find listings.
I prefer to look locally so i can audition and save on shipping..do you know of any other sites that may list vintage audio lthat is not on the shark ( thereby competing with the cognoscenti on ebay craiglist audiogon, etc) .)?
i would also really like to know good articles or sources of information on good vintage speaker buys.
See, All good deeds are punished.
but thanks for the time...you've got a generous heart