McCormack DNA HT3 Amp and Bellari 532 Passive Pre-amp ..Good Match ?

rocky1313

I am using a goldpoint passive preamp with a McCormack DNA-250 amp ,

I have a Tavish Designs Adagio Tube phono preamp and a Carver SD/A-490t CD player and I love it , no problems but I do have to have the volume up 3 or 4 ( out of 24 ) for the phono input . 

Also when asking a question you should give all your information , like input devices , speakers and wiring , this will help others help you .

Thank you for input,

Steve used to make passive preamps so most of his amps should be compatible.

Is that like ‘ModSquad’?

The manual says:

Input Impedance: 100 kohm
Input Sensitivity: 0.870 Vrms
Voltage Gain: 30.5 dB
Frequency Response: 3dB ~ 5Hz, 200 kHz Signal to Noise: 100 dB, "A" weighted
Signal Polarity ("absolute phase"): noninverting

It should be fine with anything except a phono preamp.

The OP’s other tread said something about a tube phono (I think).

Ergo… I would call:

For more information on service and upgrades of McCormack products, please contact us by email at service@mccormackaudio.com, or by phone at 703-698-8581

Might as well post the answer here.

As an aside if the output impedance of the tube phono is 100-ohm, and the input impedance of the McCormack is 100k, then what is the out impedance as seen at the tail end of the Belairi?

With the Barali running at -30dB, is it 33k or 1M, or something else?

The idea of interconnects not mattering at is pretty correct when the output impedance is close to 0 ohms. At tens of kilo-ohms, then any inductance or capacitance might have more of an effect, and could make interconnects matter more.

FWIW… I would avoid the red boxed dimmer switch.

Steve used to make passive preamps so most of his amps should be compatible. 

It all depends on what source component that will be used. The input sensitivity of that amp is .870 volts. It should be fine with anything except a phono preamp.

I suspect that the output impedance of the unit would go very high when it is played low volume…(??)

That would make it sensitive to interconnects and also would affect some schemes using a subwoofer.

if one plays it at a high volume, or generally at a constant knob setting it should easier and maybe better. But at a variety of low volume settings I would rather have more of a buffered unit with a constant output impedence… personally… IMO.