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In Reply to: How to evaluate preamps? posted by tetsuo on May 10, 2007 at 14:15:05:
You're driving 9m of interconnect, there's no doubt an active pre is yer best choice. Preamps are funny. As the wag Sam Tellig once said, you have to spend a LOT of money for one that does nothing to the sound! And one that's heavenly in one reviewer's system might sound lifeless in yours. While theoretically a passive is best, I think active preamps often help bring out the best of your sources because they give them a CONSTANT, high impedance load-a MUCH easier thing for most sources to drive. This will often offset the (more than) theoretical insertion loss.
You already know the basics:If yer power amp is low input impedance SS, you're going to have better luck with a preamp that has a low output impedance, most of the time. If you're driving long interconnects, that's a good idea anyway. The bigger the power supply of the pre, the better the sound, IME, all other things being equal. Not all tube preamps sound warm and euphonic anymore; not all SS preamps sound thin or hard anymore, either. Oftentimes, a preamp from the same maker of your power amp will have system synnergy, so maybe that's where you should start.
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Follow Ups
- Re: How to evaluate preamps? - Marc Bratton 20:32:26 05/11/07 (1)
- agreed - WEEZ 09:25:52 05/12/07 (0)