2. amps-preamps
  3. 1162755649

Preamplifier: Yes or NO ?

I post this thread because I want to know your opinion about the use of the preamplifier or if no preamplifier is better. A few years ago I tried the old Wadia 6 CD Player with volumen control. Althought it sounded very well without preamplifier I felt the sound lost body.
I red that many brands improved the volumen control in they CD Players so I want to know if you could compare with or without preamplifier.
So if you have CD Player like Wadia, Mark Levinson or Audio Aero, please let me know your opinion.
Thanks.
elduende14
edesilva
768 posts
 
+1 votes for pre-amps.

I would also note its not just a matter of impedance matching. I have a dCS Delius that, at least according to the specs, should have had no problems driving my ARC VT100s. But, I had the classic "no pre-amp" problems--music lost punch, dynamics. I slapped in an ARC LS-8 and the world became much better.

YMMV.
harmonia_audio
8 posts
 
Preamp all the way... I've owned the Wadia 27ix and it never sounded good unless I had a preamp in the chain... more body, more emotive, etc. I also recently heard the Meitner front-end both directly to the amp and with a pre- in the mix... again, the preamp adds just that extra palpability that makes music sound like music.

Just my preferences.

Kevin
elduende14 OP
51 posts
 
Thank you very much for your answer and recomendations.
flg2001's avatar
flg2001
543 posts
 
Yes - just take care of source-amp sinergy (Voltage, impendance, etc..) I run my Accuphase CDP directly to my amps, no problems, better transparency, resolution, etc.
hiend2's avatar
hiend2
376 posts
 
I think active stages have advanced far enough to make most forget about passive.
More to discover