Need A Quick Education


I am narrowing down a short-list of preamplifiers that have the features I want. Unable to audition them, I wanted to know what a good "Signal to Noise" ratio is. I am seeing 90dB through up to 102dB. Is a higher number here better? I know that with CD and SACD/DVDA players a higher S/N ration is a good thing, is it the same with preamps? If I run an SACD player through a preamp with a 90dB (or lower), what am I losing? BTW: all the pre's I am looking at are SS and the one in the lead has a s/n of 90dB. Thanks in advance!!
treyhoss

Showing 3 responses by marakanetz

as soon as it >= 90db it doesn't make a difference in these terms as long as it can play music the way you want to hear it.
Mwilson,
S/N in this case is more for the amplifier domain than in preamp and low-powered amps for horns usually have S/N much higher than 90dB.
S/N is a measure for the poweramp that matters more than S/N measure for the preamp...