2. amps-preamps
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Is no preamp the best preamp of all?

As an experiment I hooked up my OPPO BDP-95 (which has a volume control) directly to my amp. I was very pleasantly surprised to hear a significant improvement in clarity and sound quality. Typically I have the analog outputs on the OPPO running through my preamp in Analog Direct. I have heard that the circuitry within preamps can cause cross-talk in the analog signal, deteriorating the quality of the signal. So, would having no preamp (and therefore no other circuits to interfere with the signal) be better than an expensive analog or digital preamp running in Analog Direct? I am not really interested in Room Correction or DSP of any kind. I was considering purchasing a Bel Canto PRe6 (which I've read is excellent for multichannel analog), but would it be better to just have the OPPO running directly to the power amp?
128x128cdj123
daverz
487 posts
 
I agree that many issues with passives are probably impedance issues. Inline attenuators will also reduce your effective input impedance.

It would help if more amps had adjustable sensitivity so that less attenuation was needed for the high output voltage of most DACs and CDPs (which is one reason why I got the original Neko DAC with the 1V output).
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
I am trying to draw conclusions from AS two statements:

"No active line stage, no matter how good it is, will ever equal the sonics of your direct connection (or an equivalent passive)."

"He now believes for the vast majority(with rare exception) a superior active is preferred."

Perhaps if you are the rare exception (me?) no active line stage can beat a passive -- the very same thing Roger Modjeski told me, though he did not think it was all that "rare" that a passive preamp would be the volume control of choice. Which does not mean I'm not going to get another active tube line stage to switch with my Lightspeed Attenuator from time to time.
amfibius
282 posts
 
There is no such thing as no preamp. A preamp is simply gain stage + volume control. Just because your DAC has a built-in gain stage and volume control, and you elect to connect it directly to your power amp, does not mean that you do not have a preamp in the circuit. You do - your preamp is built in to your DAC. If your DAC has an elaborate gain stage, then adding a preamp would quite concievably worsen the sound, because you would be adding additional circuitry.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Pubul57,
As clearly stated above, this is a recent change on his part(which has nothing to do with your own preferences).
Arthur says the CSL had a profound effect on his previous stance concerning passive/actives. YMMV.
paperw8
165 posts
 

09-05-11: Amfibius
There is no such thing as no preamp. A preamp is simply gain stage + volume control. Just because your DAC has a built-in gain stage and volume control, and you elect to connect it directly to your power amp, does not mean that you do not have a preamp in the circuit. You do - your preamp is built in to your DAC. If your DAC has an elaborate gain stage, then adding a preamp would quite concievably worsen the sound, because you would be adding additional circuitry.

you're thinking about *analog* volume control; digital volume control works differently (i'm not going to go through the detail of digital volume control here because it has been discussed many times before) and does not have the issue to which you are referring. as a clue, if you see a device that has fixed and variable outputs, then the volume control being implemented is most likely analog. with a digital volume control system, you would typically only have a single output (of course you might actually have both single ended and balanced outputs, but they would be carrying the same signal).
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