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Do I need a Preamplifier

Hi,

I am a novice in Home Audio setting up. I recently purchased a HK3480 Stereo Receiver, and Two Klipsch SB2 speakers to rig up my home audio setup. My CD Player is a cheap cyberhome entry level DVD player. I, like most of us have lots of digital music. It is stored on my computer, as well as on my MP3 Player (Creative Zen 30GB). I use a headphone Jack to RCA cable to hook up my MP3 player to my receiver. It sounds pretty good except for the fact that I need to crank up the colume to -25db to get good output. Also when playing from CD (Whose gain is set to max) I need to set the volume levels to -35db.

I would like to know whether I need to buy a preamp for this kind of setup.

Thanks
Boni
bonigopalan4ad6

Showing 2 responses by bignerd100

bignerd100
515 posts
 
If you max out the volume on your MP3 player, and the maximum output voltage is 2.0 volts you are safe as long as you are not getting distortion. Read the manual for the player and the receiver. If the max output voltage of the MP3 plaer is 2V and the max input voltage for the receiver is 2V you are safe. The input and output impedances are an issue as well but with an MP3 player connected to solid state receiver I would not worry.

Perhaps moving away from MP3's and towards uncompressed music is a more important concern. With huge hard drives comming down in price and software getting better you can start saving music uncompressed and simply add a new hard drive every couple of years. Music servers are still not quite there yet though Cambridge Audio has one that appears to kick ass for $$$.

Good luck!
bignerd100
515 posts
 
Receiver=amp, preamp, tuner
Integrated Amp=amp and preamp only
Preamp=audio switching with either active or passive volume control
Phono Preamp=increases very weak signal from phono cartridge to usable voltage for a preamp to further amplify

Check the volume setting on your MP3 player. When You are dealing wiht multiple gain stages (volume on MP3 player, volume on receiver) you can get teh two out of whack easily. The numbers displayed on the receiver mean little. This is a number relative to unity gain in some gear and a number relative to nothing in others. The slope of the volume control is different from component to component.

Good luck!
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