2. amps-preamps
  3. 1309907445

Do Passive Pre-Amps 'Limit' the Lower-Mids?

The following is from a comparison between an active (ARC-LS3) pre-amp and passive or pre-amp less system-operation; "Connecting a source-component directly to one's amp is no panacea for sonic realism, in my experience. It can even be a deterrent as the life and body of the sound can be sucked out of a system which is perfectly capable of LIFELIKE reproduction. What is left is a thoroughly competent sound that is crisp and clear but dry and analytical, and also bereft of lower-midrange body, liquid-lucidity and lifelike-musicallity..." The full 'review' is at: Active vs Passive Pre
waj4all

Showing 2 responses by milpai

milpai's avatar
milpai
2,307 posts
 
As it has been mentioned before - it is all system dependent. I can speak for the TVCs. TVCs are attenuators and the the gain to the power amp is the key. If your CDP was putting out 2V and your amp's sensitivity is 2.5V, then this is not a good match. On the other hand if your amp's sensitivity is 1V, then this would be a good match. But you will have to be careful with cranking up the knob on the TVC, cause that extra voltage could blow your power amp and the speakers.

As for the loss of lower mid-range - not in my system!! I made careful match to the components in my system. So if I have to upgrade to a new CDP in future, I would want one with XLR output that puts out at least 3V. This would give my system more headroom, since I am not about "loud", but focused on "subtle".
milpai's avatar
milpai
2,307 posts
 
Grannyring,
I see what you mean now. I would speculate that a high efficiency speaker would work better than a low efficiency speaker with a passive. But again, this depends on the amp itself and not the pre-amp/TVC. The reason I speculate this is - high efficiency speakers require less power. So if the TVC was not putting out enough voltage to the amp and (hence) the amp is not putting out enough power, then, whatever little power it would put out should sound better through a high efficiency speaker than a low efficiency one.

Clio09,
I am not sure if the impedance matters with the type of TVC I own. When I was mentioning about sensitivity, I did not mean impedance.
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