2. amps-preamps
  3. 128127-7795

Pre-amp upgrade time?

My current system: AR Ref110 tube amp, Cary slp03 pre, Cary cdp1 and ProAc Response D25.
I am getting Sony Hap-Z1ES this weekend. 
Music I like is mostly progressive rock and ambient electronic....
Love hearing wide soundstage, well defined instruments, clear vocals smack in the center but also quick, fast, tight bass.
Always tend to gravitate towards tubes but also felt in the past that they sometimes sound too slow and weak.... Wasn't happy with Cary 120 mk2, was OK with Sonic Frontier but didn't care for Pass Aleph 0s.(I know they are SS but sound like tubes).
Overall happy now but also ready for an upgrade..... I think that my amp is the strongest link in my system and while my CDP might be weakest...I think I would get most improvement if I look to upgrade my pre-amp.
What would you recommend and should I try to add SS preamp or stick to tubes?

Thanks
ether

Showing 3 responses by georgehifi

georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
source can have bass issues due to the output coupling capacitance and higher distortion due to greater load current.

if the resistance value of the potentiometer is low, the source can have bass issues due to the output coupling capacitor.

Exacatly the same if it sees a 10kohm passive or a Class-D amp which many are 10kohm as well.

It’s the fault of the coupling cap in the source or preamp output not being large enough in mF’s, not the fault of the passive, this is why I have always said the best cap is no cap, dc servos can take the place of them. 

This why I state, low output impedance "across the audio band" for passives even if they have a coupling cap, and why Stereophile come down on coupling caps not being large enough on sources or preamps outputs they test, because this coupling cap is expensive, and the larger they are the more they cost. hail DC servo’s

Cheers George
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
ether

The Sony Hap-Z1ES has 2.1v output from a 230ohm source a great match for a 10kohm passive such as the $49 Shiit Sys, and you can return it if you don’t like it. And you’ll have plenty of gain with the AR amp, and it’s got input impedance of a very high 300kohms another great match for a passive.


Nelson Pass:
" We’ve got lots of gain in our electronics. More gain than some of us need or want. At least 10 db more.

Think of it this way: If you are running your volume control down around 9 o’clock, you are actually throwing away signal level so that a subsequent gain stage can make it back up.

Routinely DIYers opt to make themselves a “passive preamp” - just an input selector and a volume control.

What could be better? Hardly any noise or distortion added by these simple passive parts. No feedback, no worrying about what type of capacitors – just musical perfection.

And yet there are guys out there who don’t care for the result. “It sucks the life out of the music”, is a commonly heard refrain (really - I’m being serious here!). Maybe they are reacting psychologically to the need to turn the volume control up compared to an active preamp."



Cheers George

georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
That's a nice quote considering how Nelson makes a nearly $20k active preamp (really - I'm being serious here!)!  
He still needs beer money, from the " guys out there who don’t care for the result." 

Cheers George
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