2. home-theater
  3. 1049920477

Should I take out my AR-16 tube pre amp from HT?

Confirm or clarify for me whether my stereo preamp connected between my Sunfire Theater Grand III pre/proc and Odyssey HT 3 channel amp is doing anything for my sound. Currently, all my sources (DVD, CD, VCR, TV, Cable, Sat, etc...) are connected to the Sunfire and I use my stereo preamp exclusively in "pass through" mode. Before I got the Sunfire, I had my CD player connected to the preamp but not anymore. I began with a stereo/music set up and expanded into home theater. I hated giving up the preamp so I integrated it into the HT set up but I'm wondering if I even need it now.

I connected my cd player through the preamp last night to compare the sound between using the preamp or going through the Sunfire with the preamp on "pass through" and preferred the latter. Have I rendered my preamp useless in this configuration?

I was never sure if my preamp had any effect on my sound when I engaged the "pass through" feature. Can you help me clarify once and for all this question?
jwong1

Showing 1 response by foreverhifi

foreverhifi
229 posts
 
The only way things could potentially sound any better for 2 channel CD sources, VCR, etc, would be if the DAC's in your CD player(do you have one?..or are you only using your DVD player for CD's?) aren't so good as the ones in your Sunfire! If that's the case, it's possible your processing through the Sunfire is giving overall superior resolution and refinement of sound over what your CD player is feeding your preamp when connected straight to your AR 16(LS16?). If you are talking about the LS16 AR preamp with dirrect passthrough, and you do have a quality CD player, the sound is going to be potentially better for analog sources if you connect dirrectly through the AR preamp! So it depends. You do however need to connect all digital connections for DD/DTS through your sunfire for best sound, rather than processing inside, say your DVD player, and not using a pre/pro. It never sounds as good that way.
I used to use the Audio Research LS16 with dirrect bypass for 2 channel/HT dubties, and it sounded fantastic using the "bypass" when using an outboard pre/pro for movie watching. I'd simply use my beter CD player's analog outs to the LS16, bypassing the pre/pro. I also connected my tuner and vCR to for 2 channel listening this way. The only connection I had to the pre/pro was the digital out of my DVD player for movies.
I don't know all the components, connection, or speakers and such you have in your system, so results could vary.
Hope this helps. Never the less, the LS16 is a better preamp potentially than the Sunfire by far! Good luck
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