DC-1/Pre-amp Routing

Posted by Philip Brandes [IP: 152.163.207.194] on November 29, 1998 at 01:37:00:

In Reply to: DC-1/Pre-amp Routing posted by Long Chee Teck Daniel on November 28, 1998 at 23:30:51:

There are two principle issues involved in a dual-preamp configuration:

1. Signal degradation. Passing the DC-1 fronts through another preamp will inevitably degrade the signal to some extent--how much will depend on the quality of the preamp. Creek makes very nice budget gear, but you'd be running the DC-1 through a lesser quality filter. You might consider a passive controller instead (basically a high-quality switchbox and attenuator)--on the DC-1 side, it would give you more transparency and detail than a preamp, and if the impedance between your source and amp matches should work fine with the Classe.

2. Volume calibration. This is a more serious issue. The DC-1 fronts need to be calibrated to the other speakers. If you're sending them through another preamp, this means you'll always have to set the 2nd preamp's volume control to the same position. Marking the position with a dab of white-out works well (you can always scrape it off), but it's still a nuisance and you'll likely end up listening to the DC-1 a lot with mismatched front volumes, especially if you have other people using the system. To solve this problem, some preamps have what's called a "unity gain" feature--an input path that bypasses the gain control so you can hook up the fronts from a surround processor just like you're contemplating. Preamps with this feature are few and pricey--Mark Levinson, Sonic Frontiers, and the Krell integrateds ahve it, and I believe the newest Adcom.

Before you venture down this path, I'd do a sanity check--how many HDCD disks do you really anticipate listening to, and how frequently? Have you compared HDCD vs. standard CDs and found the difference worth the hassle? Can you borrow another preamp and try the hookup for a while to see if you can live with the setup?

Follow Ups:

• DC-1/Pre-amp Routing Long Chee Teck Daniel 03:22:46 11/29/98 (1)
  • DC-1/Pre-amp Routing Philip Brandes 11:27:30 11/29/98 (0)

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