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active AND TVC / AVC

Hi Jim,

Maybe this will be some help for you. TVCs will break ground loops, so no hum, nor hiss. AVCs do not break ground loops, but tend to have better high and low end extension. Good news is that at low level TVCs and AVCs play very nice. The bad news is that at higher than average volumes they run out of gas. The AVC runs out sooner, gets nasal and thin, looses dynamics. The TVCs tend not to get nasal, but also run out of dynamics.
The really bad news is that I heard this happening with very efficient speakers (Altec), and PP 2A3. That setup can blast your entire neighborhood with an active pre, but the trannies run out of gas.

Nevertheless, I am a firm beleiver of using AVC or TVC for volume control. However, they do not replace the preamp, they replace the volume pot in the preamp!
I run a 76 preamp (similar to the Bergman 76 in SP, and Joseph Esmillas 76). The signal goes in straight, no volume pot in the pre, and there is a DIY AVC after the pre. Why? Because the pre can drive the AVC easily, and the phono cannot. The CD players could in theory drive an AVC/TVC, but I experienced they can't do it right. The problem could be that the inductance of the AVC/TVC varies with the frequency, messing up the DAC, and/or their HF junk reacts with the interwinding capacitances in the iron, messing up the sound beyond belief.
If you put a pre between the iron and the CD player, they stop fighting.
And BTW, it sounds excellent. You get excellent low-level detail, spatial information, etc, and can crank up the volume without punishment to the ears. However, you need an excellent active pre, and a TVC/AVC... DIY-ing them you can get both under 800$. Otherwise this gets horribly expensive.

Good luck!

Janos



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