2. amps-preamps
  3. 169721-127218

How important is the pre-amp?

Hello all,

Genuine request here for other's experiences.

I get how power amps can make really significant changes to the sound of a system. And of course speakers have an even bigger effect. And then there is the complicated relationship between the speaker and power amp. But I wonder about pre-amps.

In theory a well designed preamp should just act as a source switch and volume control. But does it add (or ruin) magic? Can a pre-amp color the sound? Alter pace and timing? Could you take a great sounding system and spoil it with the wrong preamp? Stereophile once gushed (while reviewing a preamp that cost as much as a car) that the preamp was the heart of the system, setting the tone of everything. Really? Some people don't even bother with a preamp, feeding their DACs straight into the power amp. Others favor passive devices, things without power. If one can get a perfectly good $2K preamp, why bother with 20K?

What your experiences been?
rols
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
In theory a well designed preamp should just act as a source switch and volume control.

Correct. Only problem, it takes about $20k to attain "in theory". For much less you get a whole big long list of sacrifices and compromises. In other words, "reality".     

PS- Even for $20k all you get is a much shorter list of smaller sacrifices and compromises. There is no "in theory". That's the reality.

larsman's avatar
larsman
2,583 posts
 
When I added a Herron Audio tube pre-amp to my system, it was an immense change, and all for the better. I had been using an MSB DAC into an MSB power amp, but now I've got that DAC running into the preamp, which in turn runs into the power amp, and yow, what a difference!! 
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,206 posts
 
I get how power amps can make really significant changes to the sound of a system. And of course speakers have an even bigger effect. And then there is the complicated relationship between the speaker and power amp. But I wonder about pre-amps.
This is how important: no matter how good your amps and speakers are, they cannot make up for a shortcoming upstream. The preamp is vital in this regard. Sometimes you can get by with a simple volume control and a switch (to do so, plan on keeping your interconnect cables really short).

I have my preamp sitting with my source equipment in an equipment stand that is well away from my speakers. To increase system resolution, I run short speaker cables and long (30') balanced interconnect cables. But my preamp supports the balanced line standard so I can run cables that long with no degradation and the kind of cable is irrelevant to the sound of the system (since that is one of the advantages of the balanced line system).  In a case like this you can see how important the preamp is, since most sources do not have the ability to drive long cables.

oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
4,269 posts
 
Some would argue it’s the most important link in the chain. How can you realize the full potential of your sources, amp, and speakers without a great preamp?
oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
4,269 posts
 
I started typing when Ralph pretty much summed it up
More to discover