2. amps-preamps
  3. 174980-170745

The Best Preamp is no Preamp?

So recently I've discovered the possibility of completely removing my preamp from my rig. I've never heard or considered this before, so much audio tradition... But in going directly from DAC to amplifier the sound quality is absolutely incredible, instantly had me grinning. Using music server to Chord M Scaler to Chord Qutest (cut out Marantz SR5015) to go directly to dual Emotiva XPA-DR1 monoblocks, to GR Research's 24 strand speaker wire to Magnepan 1.7i's.  Only difference is running volume on server vs Marantz remote, sound quality is the biggest jump I've ever heard with any gear.

Have you guys had experience cutting out the preamp from your rig? What's your thoughts?

brandonhifi

Showing 1 response by tomic601

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,182 posts
 

Experimentation is good ;-) ..but limited to a specific combination of gear, especially the ability of the source to drive the amp…. That gear as Ralph astutely points out includes cables. Putting a super high quality attenuatior near the amp input is probably best. The comment about super short speaker cables is master class ;-)

You can get NOS Nobel potentiometers from Music Reference, search pot in a box,  

jim

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