Pre amp questions?

[r33v35]

I have never used a pre amp. Can someone explain the benifits of using one. I am running paradigm studio 60's with a pioneer elite vsx-45tx reciever. I am using it for 70% movies and 30% music. Thanks for your help.

 

[jostenmeat]

I believe that in a nutshell its so you can add a beefier amp.

You get discrete power supplies I suppose (but some integrateds might have that built in as well?). In any case, I believe that is a very small bonus compared to the myriad of much bigger issues with an audio system.

One thing that I do think is nice is that I don't have to change out the amp when I change the pre/pro. Its the latter that gets superceded much more quickly in comparison. Once you have an amp you are happy with, you can keep it for many years. My take on it anyways.

I use an integrated on my stereo, and a receiver acting as a pre/pro to an amplifier.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

If you already have a good receiver, just hit that Pure Direct button to bypass the other circuits to give you that preamp + amp section only in your receiver.

There is this theory that separate analog components sound better than receivers and pre-pros. Some studies have proven that this is not true. But some high end companies like Mark Levinson and Krell still make $20,000+ analog stereo preamps.

The idea is that analog stereo preamps are free of all the "digital" processings like DSPs, video circuits, post-processings, etc. They are more "pure".

The really expensive preamps don't even use treble, bass, and balance controls. They have no features at all, except for source selection and volume control.

I use 3 integrated amps for 5.1, instead of a receiver or a pre-pro.

 

[itschris]

I have never used a pre amp. Can someone explain the benifits of using one. I am running paradigm studio 60's with a pioneer elite vsx-45tx reciever. I am using it for 70% movies and 30% music. Thanks for your help.

Check out the thread in this section called "Doing 5.1 Differently"

There's some dribble between some us going off on a tangent about one thing or another, but it may give some insight to some different ways to integrate preamps into an existing HT system.