2. amps-preamps
  3. 167274-1464

preamp vs amp: relative effect on sound?

Recently, there was an interesting thread on combining a tube preamp with a SS amp, which is what apparently a lot of people do.

So two questions.

Q1: in a preamp + amp combo, does each unit affect the eventual sound equally, 50/50, or is one going to affect the sound more than the other?

Q2: in a combo of higher gain preamp + lower gain amp, will more gain being provided by the preamp have any effect on your answer to Q1?
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Showing 1 response by ccheung

ccheung
3 posts
 
In theory, preamp should have bigger impact on the sound. However, in reality, no matter how good your source and preamp are, you will not get good sound until the amp driving the speaker with ease.

The biggest impact of the system is speaker. AND speakers have to match with amp.
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