What is meant by a "fast" pre amp

What about the overshoot? Does that mean it's too fast?

Hi Bob,

It could reflect a number of things, including a frequency response rise at high frequencies; less than ideal "compensation" for stray capacitances that may be present in the circuit or in individual devices; the amount of time required for signals to propagate through a feedback loop, if present; phase shifts that are not proportional to frequency; etc.

It's more complicated than one might imagine. One of my college textbooks has a 70 page chapter on "compensation" of wideband amplifiers, referring to techniques that may be necessary to achieve clean edges and flat tops in response to square wave or stepped input waveforms. It is filled with complex equations that I wouldn't wish on anyone!

But I would say that the answer to your question can be thought of as being "yes," in the sense that wider bandwidth/faster risetime, while potentially having the advantages that Johnnyb53 cited, can make the factors I listed above more critical.

Best regards,
-- Al

Brf, Is the technical definition what you wanted? The last thing you want to do is buy equipment based on specs or some long elaborate explanation. The tweak industry is full of this kind of talk with space age materials and methods that only a NASA engineer would know.
The real question is; Does it sound like music?
Buying on specs only leads to disappointment.

BRF
............Are you serious?? The guy asked for audio help, not english lessons.

BRF
Sorry, I thought someone else made that comment.