many thanks to all. I appreciate the advice regarding an active preamp, but for now I have decided to eliminate the active preamp - I have tried several and have found a direct connection better - but that does not mean I will not try one in the future. The narrow question I have is if I use one source and no active preamp, whether a volume control built into the amp (or as 2 left ears puts it a "control amp") is better than running to a passive and then an additional interconnect to the amp. By better I guess I mean will a volume control at the amp be less likely to constrain dynamics the way my passive preamp did.
amplifier with volume control
I began my journey with an active preamp then switched to a placette passive which was more transparent but sucked the life out of my system (but I was using longer interconnects to monoblocks). I have one source (a computer with a usb dac) and am now running direct to my amplifier which sounds much better than my previous 2 configurations. I am using a digital volume control and my thought is to change to an amp with a built in volume control - like an audion - or have a tech install one on my amplifier. My question is how is an amp with a volume control different - if at all- from a passive (simple pot in a box) connected with short interconnects to an amplifier? thank you
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- 33 posts total
- 33 posts total