The Truth About Preamps


I'm wondering now that we're in the digital age with so many cd players having variable outs, what does a high quality preamp do for a system? I've heard so many different stories on either you get more detail straight in or that you get more bloom with a preamp. I would think that if you had a musical cd player such as a Cary running straight into a musical and smooth amp such as a Classe or Conrad-johnson you wouldn't need a preamp...all this given you have only cd as your source...I'm just wondering what you guys think and your experience running a cd player straight into an amp. I'm thinking of running a Theta Miles straight into a Classe CA-300
totalmlb

Showing 1 response by mahandave

You have to absolutly get one thing straight first. Price is the only issue when choosing between using a preamp and not using a preamp period, end of story. The better 8 grand and up preamps absolutly blow away any passive/direct to amp set-up in absolutly every area there is. Notice I said "better" and "8 grand plus", If you are talking 4 or 5 grand preamps, it better be one of the hand full of best there is at this price point to better (a good passive or going direct using one of the best cd players there is with an analogue only volume (digital volume does not cut it ever). For a complete explination of why this is, just go to the Placette web site and start reading. Now when you get to under 3 grand preamps, preference comes into play and it's completly your choice which you prefer and you need to ask yourself, could you better use the money saved from not buying a preamp elsewhere in your system, like on better amps etc. My personal preference is to buy the best preamp you can afford first and build your entire system around it with your budget left over. Either do it right the first time or not at all with preamps. Otherwise you go into trade-up fever for years to come. What stinks about preamps is that they are the one item in the entire audio chain, that currently keep getting much better as the price goes up and they don't stop getting much better until around 10 grand. I thing cd player top out at 3.5-5 grand and amps at around 6 grand for comparison.