2. amps-preamps
  3. 1326265162

TRL Dude or Joule 150 MKII for Major Pre Upgrade

Thinking of either of these for what I view as a huge pre upgrade in my system. Current system is:

-Celestion A3
-Krell KAV250a (500 wpc/4 ohms).
-Nohr CD-1
-Rotel 995 preamp

I am looking to pickup warmth, depth and much more soundstage. Quality bass is also important to me. I want to keep the Celestions and feel that my current pre is the weakest link. Will also will update my digital source and ss amp down the road.

My thinking is that it will be worth paying up a bit for a higher quality pre that I can grow into.

Also I have a small naive question...with either of these pre amps will the sound difference be that great compared to the Rotel.

Thanks...any comments are appreciated.

-Iggy
iggy7
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,566 posts
 
Yes- if pin 3 is not tied to pin 1, while the RCA is in use, the amplifier will buzz whether the preamp is on or not, and whether its plugged into the wall or not.

Also, FWIW it is not uncommon for a preamp to buzz if it is not powered up. The reason is that the output impedance is usually much higher and can act like an antenna.

If the Aesthetix is really balanced, you should not have any troubles making this work.
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grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,436 posts
 
My CD player is grounded to the chassis by the power cord middle pin. I did hook it up directly to the amp and still get a buzz out of both speakers. I will try the amp in another system tonight to see what happens.
Maybe a power conditioner?
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,566 posts
 
This is *starting* to sound like the preamp is off the hook. Did you make sure a jumper is there between pin 1 and 3 of the XLRs? If that is missing it may not matter what the source is.

A balanced amplifier has 2 inputs: inverting and non-inverting. When you are using the RCA input you are usually using the non-inverting input, which is often the same as pin 2 of the XLR. If you don't install the jumper the unused input can pick up noise.
vett93
205 posts
 
Granny, can you explain what you meant by "my CD player is grounded to the chassis by the power cord middle pin"? Did you use the multi-meter to measure the chassis and the power cord middle pin and then concluded that?

On the CD player, can you measure the ground of the RCA connector and the power cord middle pin, if you have not done that already? By the "ground" of the RCA connector, I refer to the outside surface area of the RCA connector.

On the power amp, can you also measure the ground of the RCA connector and the power cord middle pin?

Atmasphere, I think it is a system issue. The whole thing worked well previously with the electrostatic speakers. If the only change is the speaker, the only possible cause is the change of grounding.
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