In Reply to: Tube output stage vs Tube buffer? posted by ishmael on March 11, 2007 at 19:10:38:
Some CDPs and DACs have a gain stage while others don't. The gain stage is done in the analog domain and can be accomplished using solid state components or tubes. The gain stage can be buffered or not. As morricab said, a CDP's gain can be achieved with opamps (among other circuits) and then buffered by tubes. An Ah Tjoeb would be an example of this. One purpose of using a buffer is to lower the output impedance of the digital source so as to make it an easier load for the preamp. Not all digital sources have gain stages, but most of these don't have sufficient voltage output (relative to an amp's input sensitivity) to be used with say a passive pre.
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Follow Ups
- Re: Tube output stage vs Tube buffer? - RioTubes 08:06:41 03/12/07 (0)