Best Preamp - NO preamp... (?)
Of course none of this rant is relevant if you still spin those black thingsGoes for vinyl too Don. You can still ditch the active preamp if the phono stage has and enough gain for you >(50db), and then use a good passive preamp. Many of my customers do this, they say it’s the best they’ve heard their vinyl sound. Cheers George |
As you said you were comparing two preamps, you found one better than the other, as you said the Benchmark has it’s own internal preamp. What’s discussed here, is going direct from a dac’s "output buffer" (that has no internal preamp), direct to the amp/s using the dac own digital domain volume control, andtherefore having no preamps at all in the signal path. Basically the preamp section of the Benchmark 3 is replaced which the much more substantial Hegel preamp and the Benchmark DAC running in DAC mode improves performance aswell.Maybe, a passive should have been tried running in DAC mode Cheers George |
The $6K PS Audio BHK signature was the only one that came close to having no preamp at all, but still a clear second best. Still in your own words, with the same source it came a clear second to going direct. With that $6k saving, you could throw that at the source, imagine what you’d have then ??? Cheers George |
Yes ami thousands spent on these, and owners are very afraid they are going the way of the dodo bird. Like a someone else you guys have over there. https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.205675140.2343/flat,1000x1000,075,f.u1.jpg Funny you mentioned PS Audio BHK signature preamp. Paul McGowan was in the staunch anti active preamp brigade, and all for going direct. That was right up until he released info that he was bringing out the, PS Audio BHK signature preamp, don’t suppose sales and the mighty $$$$ had anything to do with his massive turnaround???? Cheers George |
lancelock Fair enough, your new pre sounds better than your old preamp, goes to prove no two pre’s sound the same, just like none can sound like the fabled "strait piece of wire" But direct source to power amp is, and will sound like a "strait piece of wire", because guess what? that’s what it is!! If you don’t like it that way, many don’t, it’s because you DON"T like the sound of your source!!. Better change it and save $4,450, instead of putting a band-aids on it with different sounding preamps. Put the $4.5k towards a better front end source with built in volume control ability, then revel in the dynamic transparency direct source to poweramp can give you, once you’ve heard it this way with a source you like, there’s no going back to an active preamp. And that’s why we have this thread called, " Best Preamp - NO preamp... (?) " Remember your hifi system all starts with the source. "To quote a famous saying. It all starts with the source, get that right and your 1/3rd the way there, if not, it's a never ending battle to get the truth." Cheers George |
I almost always have two preamps in the signal chain https://youtu.be/RmyucZa6wD0?t=4 |
I think i always worried the direct-to-amp would be too raw and "un-prepped."Sorry electroslacker forgive me. Raw?? Unprepped?? This is something the voodoo'ist have instilled into you. The source, is the start in a system and it's signal should go via the purest path to the speakers, anything in-between that changes it, is not pure and just adding distortion and or colourations. As for your impedance match, you couldn't ask for anything better, low impedance solid state output of the Benchmark, into the high input impedance of a tube amp, as perfect as an impedance match gets. Cheers George |
@ alfa 100Hi alfa, just letting others know that with the Wadia 521 you can change the gain setting ratio inside with switches or links, so then you can use it’s volume control above 65 with no "bit stripping". As "bit stripping" happens with any dacs digital domain volume control if their not used above 75% of full. All sources with digital domain volume should have this feature, but sadly they don’t, that’s when a good passive pre is needed for the next possible best sound. Quote from Wadia We strongly recommend that you use your Wadia 521 Decoding Computer connected directly to your power amplifier. Even if you purchased your Wadia 521 Decoding Computer with the intention of connecting it to your preamplifier, we suggest that you try direct connection to your amplifier. Many listeners are surprised by the improvement in performance over even the most expensive preamplifiers. Optimizing the Output Level Best performance is obtained when operating the Wadia Volume Control near the top of its range. If needed, the maximum output level of your Wadia 521 Decoding Computer can be adjusted to match the overall sensitivity of your system so that the critical listening will take place with the volume control operating in near the top of its range. Wadia do know what their talking about, being the fathers of high end dacs and cdp's. Cheers George |
Here is a part of the review from 6 Moons for the new Gryphon Antileon Evo poweramp, driving Wilson Alexia’s What was used first as the preamp was his Supratek Reference DHT, and yes this quote of part of the review is pushing my product, but it goes to show at least to this reviewer what a passive can do. And if his source (AMR CD-77.1) had a volume control of it’s own, it would have sounded even better to him direct. That’s the quintessential description for the sound of the Antileon EVO, too. There’s a sense of weight, power, dominance and uncompromising authority to music when played via this amplifier. And it’s not just about the bass either. It’s about overall dynamics that approach reality (yes, rest of gear permitting…) with explosive contrasts. This last came through even more outwardly when I connected George Stantscheff’s Lightspeed Attenuator quad-matched LDR passive. The Lightspeed does no harm. It’s as clear a conduit to the musical content from your source as you’re going to get, provided all impedance parameters are optimal, and without hindering dynamic expression in any way, shape or form.Cheers George |
They don’t have enough gain, so they need an active pre to help the signal along.If it goes loud enough for you, you have enough gain, a passive preamp will NOT compress the music if it’s up near full. Quote from Nelson Pass: We’ve got lots of gain in our electronics. More gain than some of us need or want. At least 10 db more.Cheer George |
There’s no voodoo in this. Many times people that try going direct and not liking what they hear, are using the digital domain volume control in the source at too low a level, and are lowering the resolution because they are "bit stripping" eg: 14bit 12 bit ect resolution and even lower. To make sure that this "bit stripping" is not happening one must use the sources digital domain volume control at or above 75% of full output. If this is too loud still,, then it should be left at or over 75% and a passive preamp used. Cheers George |
