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Re: Few highend preamps in my experience have invert switches nt

Posted by cheap-Jack (M) on August 20, 2003 at 13:04:41

In Reply to: Re: Few highend preamps in my experience have invert switches nt posted by john curl on August 19, 2003 at 13:42:45:

Hi, JR.

"It is necessary for a complete preamp".

Hopefully, "complete" doesn't mean its panel all covered with
knobs & switches. I agree old timers all got many knobs, & buttons, including the then "must" knobs - bass & treble controls. For 60-80s vintage gears, it was a fashion & win-win sales features to put knobs & buttons all over the front panel.

But who needs them nowadays? With the era of straight-line concept,
enchanced by direct-coupling design topology, even with one-century-
young valves already gone OTL & OCL commercially, redundant knobs & buttons (hence redundant internal wiring), should be done away with.

With the reproduction-chain getting so effective todate, we can even detect subjectively the tonal signatures of coupling caps & filter caps of different designs (say, oil or polypropylene, etc.), these
vintage panel features should only be our sweet memory of the past.
Surely, it is not "necesssary" any more today.

My DIY phono+line preamp, pure DC (battery) powered, got only one knob
for line output level control & a toggle selector switch for phone/line input. Simple nothing is always better than indequate
sonmething. Right?

As for phase checking, I always play a monoral signal, say, an AM
radio broadcast with voice only programmes. It should sound like at the dead centre of the soundstage.

A good rig should be able to reproduce a stereo recording of a singer's voice at the dead centre of the soundstage, even without the use of any 'mono' switch. Mine always does.

Listening is believing.

Good listening.

cheap-Jack
Aug 20, 2003.

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