2. amps-preamps
  3. 166434-158347

Matching components?

I’ve read a couple of posts on this site alluding to the notion that one can be best assured of positive results by matching components produced by the same manufacturer when assembling a stereo system. Is this really a thing? Should I worry that a Decware phono stage won’t play nice with my ARC linestage? Or that I would have been better served by finding an ARC DAC in lieu of the Black Ice FX DSD I recently acquired?

Just looking for a little guidance, as my budget is such that I really can’t be screwing this up...

thx
rfnoise
erik_squires
16,554 posts
 
Kind of depends.  Tube gear has a harder time matching, but you can still match outside of your brand.

Really depends on the attributes you want. It's quite common for listeners to get a juicy tube pre and stiff solid state amp from different makers for instance.
rfnoise OP
153 posts
 
Matching is mostly impedance matching


I’m hip to that. My LS-25 is 300ohm out to my Legacy amp’s 50kohm in, so I’m good there. A little math also showed that my pre has sufficient output voltage to drive my amp to full power.

noromance's avatar
noromance
10,043 posts
 
Mostly not an issue. I have a DAC feeding a 15 year old tube preamp driving 50 year old tube amps!
russ69's avatar
russ69
3,566 posts
 
Matching is mostly faceplates not sound.
Post removed 
More to discover