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Pre-amp or cd direct to XA30.5 ?

I'm new to this, and this is my first forum.. so here goes. I have an old set of Tannoy D700's and have purchased a Pass Labs XA30.5 amp. I'm questioning
if I must adhere to traditional pre-amp (probably X2.5 or X1 2nd hand), or can I go direct from cd player with say digital inputs and volume control (say modwright oppo 105) or wadia? Any thoughts.. My reason for against pre amp is simply don't need that many inputs. Ideas pls.. and tks for any advise ..
fsyme

Showing 3 responses by zd542

zd542
5,339 posts
 
"02-20-14: Fsyme
advantages / disadvantages?"

You have to take it on a case by case basis. You can get great sound wither way. I used my Wadia's on Pass amps and was very happy with the results.

Also, I got together with a few friends and we tried to see if we could hear any loss in SQ at lower volumes. None of us could hear any difference at all. Wadia was the only brand we tried. Don't know if it will be true for all brands. One imporent thing to note is that Wadia players have different global gain settings that you can change using DIP switches. That way you can keep the volume as close to 99 as you can with just about any other components.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"02-21-14: Fsyme
I did some reading online and looks like my XA30.5 has max voltage at 0.77V. Wadia can set to 0.5V or 1.1V. To achieve max performance, better setting the wadia to .5v for 100% vs 1.1v"

There's more to it than that. Bit loss is only one of several factors to consider. For example, I have a pair of Wilson speakers I sometimes use. They're very efficient. If the gain on the Wadia is set too high, I get a hiss. Its a very common problem with efficient speakers. Other factors that will determine your overall gain settings are how loud you like to listen and how big your room is. You just have to experiment and find the best setting that works for you. Its also very easy. It shouldn't take you more than a few minutes to find out where you need to be.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"02-24-14: Fsyme
Ive around $2k right now.. and saving. Any advise on a good preamp other than pass X2.5 or X1.. (if i can find)?"

I had the X2.5. Didn't care for it. A preamp is a very important and personal choice. Its hard to give advice on something like that. That said, if you have a chance to listen to an Ayre K5, do so. Its great all around and should be pretty close to what your budget allows if you can find one used.
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