2. digital
  3. 1022603345

Capitole owners- any benefits to external preamp??

I drive a pair of monoblock tube amps direct with my Capitole CDP, however, it has come to my attention that some owners have found better performance using a high quality external preamp (they have alluded to the fact that the analog volume control in the Cap may not be the best). Any thoughts on this? If you HAVE found a benefit w preamp in the chain, please post WHAT preamp you are using (and IC's too).
sutts
sutts OP
701 posts
 
Mike- where is 'unity gain' on the Cap dial? I assumed that if adding external preamp, I would simply crank the Cap's volume control all the way, then attenuate with the Placette's volume- no??

Secondly, what interconnects did you use (since with the Placette, I guess you needed an addiitonal set?)
mikelavigne
2,200 posts
 
Sutts, i'm sorry if i was not very clear, i interpret "cranking it all the way up" as "unity gain" and i just cranked it all the way up.

i use Valhalla XLR interconnects before and after the Placette.
sutts OP
701 posts
 
yikes- Valhalla's??!! What are the IC's worth (both pairs together)
mikelavigne
2,200 posts
 
Sutts, what can i say?.... a guys gotta do what a guys gotta do. in the context of my system the whole combination of interconnects and Placette makes sense. it replaced a Levinson #32 and sounds better..... and i had money left over to contribute to other toys.

i think most systems would have similar tradeoffs at whatever level they are.
sutts OP
701 posts
 
Mike- I spoke with Steve Huntley at Great Northern Sound yesterday about his upcoming upgrade mod for the Cap Gen 1- it sounds cool, and I will post a review if I end up springing for it...
More to discover