philly0116 Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 I am currently using a Marantz 2265 as a preamp with a Haffler DH-200 Amp. Am I missing anything by not having a true preamp? I never listen to the radio so the tuner portion of the Marantz never gets used. What is the importance of a dedicated pre-amp? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 I would say the preamp is extremely important. Maybe even more important than the amp in some situations. You can certainly benefit from replacing the Marantz. Shakey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrestonTom Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 (edited) I am currently using a Marantz 2265 as a preamp with a Haffler DH-200 Amp. Am I missing anything by not having a true preamp? I never listen to the radio so the tuner portion of the Marantz never gets used. What is the importance of a dedicated pre-amp? Should we assume that you are not using phono as a source? Do you plan on ever using an equalizer or expander etc (eg. things that could plug into the tape loop)? IOW, do you actually need a pre-amp at all or do you just need to control the gain (volume knob and an input selector) Edited November 10, 2013 by PrestonTom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 I am currently using a Marantz 2265 as a preamp with a Haffler DH-200 Amp. Am I missing anything by not having a true preamp? I never listen to the radio so the tuner portion of the Marantz never gets used. What is the importance of a dedicated pre-amp?Should we assume that you are not using phono as a source? Do you plan on ever using an equalizer or expander etc (eg. things that could plug into the tape loop)? Let's hope not......... Shakey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Sargent Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 If the Marantz is working out for you then that may be just the ticket for your needs. Many times a preamp is not even necessary. I listen to a computer connected directly to a tube amp all the time for instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philly0116 Posted November 11, 2013 Author Share Posted November 11, 2013 (edited) Something that would allow me to switch between aux, phono and adjust bass/treble would be fine. No tuner needed. Wont ever have an equalizer, or anything like that. The Marantz may be fine as a pre-amp. I just wanted to make sure I wouldn't be better off with a dedicated pre-amp and not a receiver acting as a pre-amp. Edited November 11, 2013 by philly0116 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 (edited) I guess that a preamp can mean a lot of things, many devices have them, sound card, mixers,avrs, and just a single dedicated preamp. They help contro things, gain, output impedance, tone, drive a prarticular amp due to input voltage, and convert signal from unbalance to balanced. If the Marantz is working and you are happy, you are done. Some people like seperates but, many people use their avr with great results. I use my Pioneer as a preamp. Edited November 11, 2013 by derrickdj1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philly0116 Posted November 11, 2013 Author Share Posted November 11, 2013 I guess that a preamp can mean a lot of things, many devices have them, sound card, mixers,avrs, and just a single dedicated preamp. They help contro things, gain, output impedance, tone, drive a prarticular amp due to input voltage, and convert signal from unbalance to balanced. If the Marantz is working and you are happy, you are done. Some people like seperates but, many people use their avr with great results. I use my Pioneer as a preamp. Yep. I'm happy. Marantz does fine for me. If there isn't much to be gained, I wont mess with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philly0116 Posted November 11, 2013 Author Share Posted November 11, 2013 I guess that I could get a more modern Pre Amp and have a remote for volume control..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Sometime people complain about an amp that someone else finds quite good and it may be the preamp. The amp input sensitivity can range from 0.7 to 1.25 volts. If the amp need 1.25v and the preamp can only do 0.7 then the amp will underperform. This is important when not buying matched components and vintage gear to be mixed with modern gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philly0116 Posted November 11, 2013 Author Share Posted November 11, 2013 Sometime people complain about an amp that someone else finds quite good and it may be the preamp. The amp input sensitivity can range from 0.7 to 1.25 volts. If the amp need 1.25v and the preamp can only do 0.7 then the amp will underperform. This is important when not buying matched components and vintage gear to be mixed with modern gear. Thanks for the heads up on that! I will pay attention to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 (edited) Important but not important if you don't need additional gain stages or any of the advanced features.. I've been using a Slagle Autoformer Volume Control. The device is passive with one autoformer per channel no resistive parts. This thing baffled me when I first got it as it doesn't even require power. All this does is attenuate the sources directly. I have not had a single device it couldn't properly attenuate whether digital music server, rtr, phono preamp, and cdp. TI'm not going back to a preamp even though I've used some very good one. In fact I am building another Slagle AVC with the autoformer that has more settings. In my setup I have found it to be more true to sources and source material. his is the less is more camp. Here is an example. Edited November 11, 2013 by seti 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Looks like there's room left in that box for some magic pebbles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 many people use their avr with results There, fixed it for ya. Shakey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Important but not important if you don't need additional gain stages or any of the advanced features.. I've been using a Slagle Autoformer Volume Control. The device is passive with one autoformer per channel no resistive parts. This thing baffled me when I first got it as it doesn't even require power. All this does is attenuate the sources directly. I have not had a single device it couldn't properly attenuate whether digital music server, rtr, phono preamp, and cdp. TI'm not going back to a preamp even though I've used some very good one. In fact I am building another Slagle AVC with the autoformer that has more settings. In my setup I have found it to be more true to sources and source material. his is the less is more camp. Here is an example. I have owned a Sonic Euphoria AVC for many years now and it has beat others up to 6K. I have also owned a TVC, another wonderful thing fer sure. The efficiency of horns beg for devices such as these. Tube preamps costing many times as much have fallen to the Sonic Euphoria. The preamp outputs of a receiver have no business in a high end system. Shakey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 (edited) Sometime people complain about an amp that someone else finds quite good and it may be the preamp. The amp input sensitivity can range from 0.7 to 1.25 volts. If the amp need 1.25v and the preamp can only do 0.7 then the amp will underperform. This is important when not buying matched components and vintage gear to be mixed with modern gear. This is misleading. If your source component (seedee player) has an output voltage of 2v and your amp has an input sensitivity of 1.25 and a decent input impedence (50K is ok, 100K better), then you have no need for ANY output voltage on your preamp. My Sonic Euphoria uses autoformers as attenuators and I have NO need for any more gain with my digital front end or my phono stage (70 db of MC gain). Add in the high efficiency of horns and it's just icing on the cake. Shakey Edited November 11, 2013 by Shakeydeal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 It is not misleading, lol. I can't write a book or no one will read it, he, he. That were other people come in and share. Thanks for the extra info Shankeydeal. This is a good topic because it recently has not been discussed in any detail. Preamp can mean a lot of things and new people of the forum benefit form this type of info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Looks like there's room left in that box for some magic pebbles. That is where I keep my stash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Important but not important if you don't need additional gain stages or any of the advanced features.. I've been using a Slagle Autoformer Volume Control. The device is passive with one autoformer per channel no resistive parts. This thing baffled me when I first got it as it doesn't even require power. All this does is attenuate the sources directly. I have not had a single device it couldn't properly attenuate whether digital music server, rtr, phono preamp, and cdp. TI'm not going back to a preamp even though I've used some very good one. In fact I am building another Slagle AVC with the autoformer that has more settings. In my setup I have found it to be more true to sources and source material. his is the less is more camp. Here is an example. I have owned a Sonic Euphoria AVC for many years now and it has beat others up to 6K. I have also owned a TVC, another wonderful thing fer sure. The efficiency of horns beg for devices such as these. Tube preamps costing many times as much have fallen to the Sonic Euphoria. The preamp outputs of a receiver have no business in a high end system. Shakey I'm unfamiliar with the Sonic Euphoria but I'll check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daan Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 The best preamp I ever had [and still use today] is a pot from "Thel audio" [germany]. http://www.thel-audioworld.de/bauteile/regler/Potis.htm This passive component lets me control the volume by a remote control while it adds or detracts nothing. I tried out a bunch of similar pots from exotic brands but came back to this one. Combined with the 2V output CD player and hornsystem I do not need any extra gain and in fact this is perfect for beeing able to control the volume in a precise way from background to full throttle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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