The preamp IS the heart and soul of a system - it’s the driver in the car. The driver puts the car in gear, controls the steering and direction, and controls the throttle making the engine do what it needs to do to run the car. This is all the functions of a preamp in a sound system.
It drives the system! It has to accept and manage a wide array of sources; Turntable, CD and/or BluRay player, Streamer, Cable/Satellite Box, etc., allowing you to select between all of those sources, and has to control what the amplifier does with your speakers. It’s gain, balance, treble/bass, dynamics, it controls all of those things between the sources and the amp.
Without a good preamp, it would be a lot like putting a kid who just got their driver’s license behind the wheel of a race car. If you can’t manage the sources well, that’s like not knowing what gear to be in. If you can’t control what the amp is doing, it’s like not controlling the throttle, which you’re likely to blow the engine and burn the tires along with not being able to handle the steering. That’s much like not getting a good image between your speakers because you can’t control the balance and not being able to fully handle what the amp is doing to the speakers where it can sound distorted or likely blow your speakers. I hope that’s not confusing and gives you the direction you need?
Good luck in your quest!
It drives the system! It has to accept and manage a wide array of sources; Turntable, CD and/or BluRay player, Streamer, Cable/Satellite Box, etc., allowing you to select between all of those sources, and has to control what the amplifier does with your speakers. It’s gain, balance, treble/bass, dynamics, it controls all of those things between the sources and the amp.
Without a good preamp, it would be a lot like putting a kid who just got their driver’s license behind the wheel of a race car. If you can’t manage the sources well, that’s like not knowing what gear to be in. If you can’t control what the amp is doing, it’s like not controlling the throttle, which you’re likely to blow the engine and burn the tires along with not being able to handle the steering. That’s much like not getting a good image between your speakers because you can’t control the balance and not being able to fully handle what the amp is doing to the speakers where it can sound distorted or likely blow your speakers. I hope that’s not confusing and gives you the direction you need?
Good luck in your quest!