I suppose if I had to floor the accelerator to drive 55 mph, maybe I’d
think the life was being sucked out of my driving. Then again, maybe I
like 55. Nice and safe, good gas mileage…
Is impedance matching an issue? Passive volume controls do have to make
a trade-off between input impedance and output impedance. If the input
impedance is high, making the input to the volume control easy for the
source to drive, then the output impedance is also high, possibly
creating difficulty with the input impedance of the power amplifier. And
vice versa: If your amplifier prefers low source impedance, then your
signal source might have to look at low impedance in the volume control.
Immediately following the text George quoted above from Nelson Pass is the text above. |
I think the most you can expect from a preamp is that it mitigates some limitation in the connected equipment and in all other ways is transparent.
Most of the time a preamp is there for the convenience of switching and having a single control to adjust the volume.
As @atmasphere pointed out an active preamp might act as a buffer and present better impedances than if the components were connected directly to one another. And I agree with @almarg in that a very good attenuator in a preamp allows you to leave all source equipment volume controls at max which will improve the sound.
If your equipment is well matched with top quality attenuators and you don't need the convenience then I don't think you'll get much out of a preamp. |
Luminous Audio makes one..... |
I suppose if I had to floor the accelerator to drive 55 mph, maybe I’d think the life was being sucked out of my driving. Then again, maybe I like 55. Nice and safe, good gas mileage… atmasphere Immediately following the text George quoted above from Nelson Pass is the text above. That is why one of Nelsons favorite preamps he says is the Aleph L, passive up till 3o’clock then turns active above that if you need the extra gain, but he says at sound a penalty of having active components in the signal path. (They are like unobatinium to find as no one gets rid of them.) Nelson Pass
Unique to this preamp, patent pending, is a volume level control which combines the best qualities of a passive attenuator and active gain circuitry:
At the 3 o’clock volume control position, the Aleph L offers a direct path from input to output.
The only component in the signal path is wire and switch contacts.
At positions below 3 o’clock, the volume control functions as a precision passive attenuator using discrete resistor ladders.
Above 3 o’clock, active gain is added to the output signal in 2 decibel increments, for a
maximum of 10 dB.
As a result, you suffer the effects of active circuitry only when additional gain is necessary. |
I know many love the Freya, I’m just doubting the unit would be an improvement over a $4000 preamp like my BHK pre. |
