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Help in matching pre/amp

Although I have owned a HiFi system for a bit, I don’t really understand all the technical parts of the hobby. I have what I feel is a great sounding system, but curious if my components match well on paper.

 

PreAmp is Aric Audio Motherload XL Input impedance 50 kOhm; output impedance 400 Ohms with a recommendation to keep overall impedance it will be feeding to 10 kOhms. There is also a 5 step output level control which sets the gain of the preamplifier between 3 and 17.

 

Amp is a SET 45 designed by Radu Tarta with input sensitivity 2.3 Vrms; input impedance 91kOhm. It has 8 and 16 ohm  binding posts. 

 

A second amplifier I use is Atmasphere Class D monoamps. 

 

My speakers are Charney Audio with AER BD3 drivers (16 ohm)

Subwoofer are 2 SVS 3000 micro

 

I use AER outputs on the preamp to the amps (with balanced to single ended IC when using the SET) and the parallel RCA outputs to the subs.

 

My questions are as follows:

Does this set up seem to be matched?

What would the best setting for the preamp output control gain setting for the SET and also for the AS Class D?

I have the low pass filters on the subs set to 50 with a slope of 24dB. 

Is there a good reference I can read to help me understand all this?

 

Thoughts? Comments?

 

Much appreciated

dseltz
dseltz OP
225 posts
 

@hilde45 THANKS! Awesome information. I realize this is AI, but assume you agree with the information. Having appreciated your input on many other posts, I do have confidence in your assessment. 

You are much appreciated.

ghdprentice's avatar
ghdprentice
9,397 posts
 

+1 to 

"The Complete Guide to High-End Audio" by Robert Harley 

It is important to match the electrical characteristics and requirement of all your components. That is like step one... and typically consumes maybe a 2% of ones time in evaluating and constructing a system. The real work is on the nuances of sound. Figuring out exactly what "kind of " sound you want... analytical, detailed, musical, natural...etc. Technical specifications fall very short on all but the most obvious sonic characteristics. 

It sound like you have done more  than enough work in the realm of technical specs and have assembled a very good system. Now it is time to delve into sonic characteristics learning about the characteristics it has... which don you appreciate the most and maybe identify some that it does not have. I recommend listening to other systems, and live music... particularly acoustic music... symphony... acoustic jazz. How does your system differ? Do you like the sound live music better?

The book will help with terminology an how to think about sound and music and the components that reproduce it. 

 

erik_squires
17,537 posts
 

Your preamp is an excellent example of how modern preamps are designed in terms of inpput and output impedance.  It will be a good consumer of upstream sources and drive all but perhaps the very worst amplifiers.  

hilde45's avatar
hilde45
5,993 posts
 

My pleasure! Thanks for the kind words.

dseltz OP
225 posts
 

@ghdprentice @erik_squires 

Thanks for the replies. I purchased "The Complete Guide to High-End Audio" by Robert Harley and look forward to digging in to the content. 

Cheers and happy listening

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