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New preamp? Opinions, please: Correction...


hap

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I really shouldn't text on anything but my Mac keyboad.*

My SO and I have been enjoying our Will Vincent Dynaco ST-70
driving our 1976 Heresys for some time.

Mostly classical form
souces as varies as CDs, DVDs, vinyl and Squeezebox.

Our preamp is
a holdover Creek OBH-12 passive with remote.

We wonder what < (less, under...)* $1000 preamp with remote would improve our already enjoyable sound
enough to make us wnat to change?

Any opinions, suggestions,
biases will be appreciated...

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Normally you will get better sound from a passive preamp than an active one simply because there are less components in the signal path.An active preamp may also amplify unwanted noise. You might want to borrow another preamp before purchasing one just to make sure you are not taking a step backward.

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New preamp is not that imperative. We've used the Creek with B&K ST140, Monarchy Audio SM-70 (both stereo and mono-block modes) and now the Will Vincent ST-70 and have not been unhappy. But the grass always seems greener...

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New preamp is not that imperative. We've used the Creek with B&K ST140, Monarchy Audio SM-70 (both stereo and mono-block modes) and now the Will Vincent ST-70 and have not been unhappy. But the grass always seems greener...

Glad to see another Monarchy audio fan!

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I have always understood that many passive preamps are difficult to match correctly to most power amps. Unless of course the pre and power amplifiers have been specifcally designed to go together. I believe Mark is quite correct in what he is saying.

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The word "preamp" might also simply be used in terms of its position in the signal chain.

Some "passive" line attenuators are transformer-based, with a primary and secondary winding, and can, as in the case of a phono step-up transformer, be configured to offer a bit of gain in addition to signal attenuation. Passive transformer based attenuators, while in most cases (that I've seen) are more expensive than the more common type mentioned above, may subjectively offer improved performance because of arguably better input/output impedance ratios.

Most modern sources can, on their own, provide enough gain to push many amplifiers into clipping distortion; which is why some have found passive attenuators, where short interconnect can be used between components, a better solution than an active, power-supply-driven line stage.

Try both, choose what you like best, have fun.

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