It's possible the pre has an ultrasonic oscillation happening. As the name implies, you can't hear it, or it could have a strong DC offset which the amp, if it is DC coupled, is responding to. You can test for the later with a DC meter on the preamp or amp outs. :)
Preamp sending amp into protect
Hello everyone,
I recently took delivery of a Denafrips Athena preamp and their Apollo power amp, as well as a Lumin U1 Mini and an Ares 2 DAC. When the amp is connected via xlr outs to the preamp, it goes into protect within a few seconds. However, when connected directly to the Ares 2 DAC, everything is working as it should. Before I got the amp in I was using the xlr outs of the preamp to connect a set of powered monitors, which worked fine. I’m confused as to what would cause this issue with the preamp and amp combo. Any help would be appreciated.
I recently took delivery of a Denafrips Athena preamp and their Apollo power amp, as well as a Lumin U1 Mini and an Ares 2 DAC. When the amp is connected via xlr outs to the preamp, it goes into protect within a few seconds. However, when connected directly to the Ares 2 DAC, everything is working as it should. Before I got the amp in I was using the xlr outs of the preamp to connect a set of powered monitors, which worked fine. I’m confused as to what would cause this issue with the preamp and amp combo. Any help would be appreciated.