Tír Na HiFi

Dumb questions I am sure but can I connect preamp to an integrated amp? Is it a waste of time because signal still has to go through the preamp in the integrated amp? I have tried it and think(maybe wishful thinking that it makes a difference. In the case of a power amp which I dont have, I notice no volume control. Are they designed to allow any preamp to control the volume or are they specific to a brand?

In the case of a power amp which I dont have, I notice no volume control. Are they designed to allow any preamp to control the volume or are they specific to a brand?

Yes, thats the idea, it does one job only, amplifies what its given by the preamp. While any preamp should "work" with any power amp, undoubtedly some mate together better than others. This is both in the case of sonics (eg a warm sounding valve preamp driving a very neutral solid state power amp to get a nice flavour of both) and electrically (eg a very high gain preamp with a high gain power amp means you will be deafened when the volume is at 7o'clock, or matching of input and output impedances).

Dumb questions I am sure but can I connect preamp to an integrated amp? Is it a waste of time because signal still has to go through the preamp in the integrated amp?

Kind of. It very much depends on the integrated. Some integrateds now come with jumper that allow you to use the amp as a power amp or as a preamp - its worth checking this out. But most times you're taking the signal and running it through 2 preamps.


In the end, the story is, if it sounds better to you, then thats it really.

Fran

Thanks Fran, thought the quesion where a bit obvious but wanted to be sure. Using the preamp from the headphone amp thru my old pioneer amp into a pair of sa1530's and I think it sounds great. By the way you are spot on about the hd681's. Unreal quality for the price.