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Good post, I agree. I like this part: More attention must be paid to input and output sensitivities and impedance's, and cabling resistance, inductance, and capacitance. This is why it is not more popular. Someone have a any tip, or a practical info about it?? Looks a interesting new ground, with great rewards in sound quality for less money...
A couple of things I've read besides source needs enough output voltage... amplifier input impedance should be 10x or greater the passive preamplifier output impedance, and interconnects should be short as possible with low capacitance.More knowledgeable people may feel free to correct any of the above that is incorrect.
If the designer of the preamp line stage has done his homework, that preamp will sound better than any passive made. Passives cannot control the interconnect cable and that is one thing that a good line section **can** do (although not all preamp designers realize that what I just said is possible, so you will see a lot of variance as a result).... It is the interaction between the cable, the source resistance (which is a combination of the passive control and the actual source, including the cable from the source to the passive) and the input impedance of the amp that creates the bass/dynamic filter that many passives are guilty of being. The only way around it is to use really low impedances, something that most sources cannot handle.So in effect passive controls are a form of tone control. The fact that they can sound better then some actives is simply the measure of how bad those actives really are. The only way I have found to make a passive work is to eliminate the cable between the control and the amp, IOW put the control **in** the amp. This eliminates convenience but then the control works.--Ralph Karsten
I like both integrated amps and power/preamp amp setups. Our integrated amps use a passive voltage divider circuit to control volume and it works very well. The pro's of a passive setup: There is absolutely no noise induced into the signal path. As long as your source's voltage output is 1.5v or higher, this system works very well. The amp's input has to be sensitive as well. Active preamps: My favorite is a nearly straight through design using triodes. Actives have the uncanny ability to bring out subtleties in music when properly mated with a good amplifier. Even though active preamps are in attenuation mode 80% of the time, a triode preamp still 'reaches in' and gathers information that is sometimes lost. Note: Just like amps, preamps are tools and sometimes it is better to use a passive system for volume control. It all depends on the setup.
Hi Guy 13,An integrated amplifier can sound good and have little noise/hum if designed well but you will always be limited to that. You won't have an option to use a different monoblock amp or preamp. Synergy is very important and that is how I combined a mono block and pre-amp for my system (after trying 10-12 combination of each).Most commercial integrated amps have everything compressed inside a relatively small chassis so I would question the quality of parts used.Regarding active vs passive pre-amp, I found the passive one to be dull and lifeless. When I used the active one, there was body and soul in the music and I found that more details were present at the same listening volume. Just my $0.02.I am sure you will find a big difference if you use a monoblock + active pre-amp.
Hi Guy 13,As discussed in the previous posts, an active pre-amp is able to drive a vast majority of sources to the amp better. Maybe that is why I found the sound more dynamic and soulful. Anything that you put in between an amp and a source will add a "sound" of it's own to it. Blair's amps are very well made and I'm sure his integrated type will satisfy you.In my previous post, I was trying to explain that if you use monoblock + preamp, then you have more flexibility in tailoring the sound to your needs. Since you don't need to "mix n match", then no worries =)
An integrated amplifier being limited to sounding good and have little noise/hum its O.K. with me.I do not want to use monoblock and/or pre-amplifiers, because :Too expensive, too much wiring and too much space needed.
How can a passive pre-amplifier be dull and lifeless, when it’s not supposed to modify the sound, is it not what all audiophile agree on ?Again, I am once more a pain in the neck with my arguing :According to you, an active pre-amplifier, gives body and soul to the music, when a sound system is supposed to be neutral. The passive or active pre-amplifier is not supposed to add anything to the original source, is there something I don’t get, I don’t understand. I am only repeating what lots of audiophiles and manufacturers as well, are saying.Am I stubborn or what ?
Can an integrated amplifier sound as good as monoblock with active pre-amplifier, if well design ? ? ?
Integrateds are limited by their space constraints. If you can agree with the idea that separate power supplies are an advantage for monoblocks, then you should be able to understand the advantages of having a separate power supply for a line stage. Yes, you can build a small integrated that sounds wonderful, hell, you can even build an esoteric SET amp with a built in line stage, but at each turn, unless the power supply has substantial capacity, you give up some performance. As long as your speakers are bandwidth limited (no true full rangers with response into the 20s), and moderately sensitive (say above 90dB sensitivity), and a relatively benign load (no dips below 4 ohms and no wild phase shifts) an integrated will work just fine as long as you don't push the volume too far.Not stubborn, just lacking knowledge and experience. Passives work by basically placing impedance (mostly resistance) between the source (CD, LP, whatever...) and the amplifier. IF (and it is a major if) the source has sufficient driving capability (read voltage and current) and the amplifier is sufficiently sensitive, the passive will work. The problem is that in the majority of cases the source does not have sufficient capability to properly drive the amplifer. Most sources are not designed to drive an amp, the output stages are designed to be accepted by an active line stage, which then is capable of properly driving the amplifier. That's why most people eventually give up on passives. The active isn't necessarily adding a coloration as much as it is allowing the proper signal to come through without being stripped of its character.In some circumstances, yes. It depends wholly on the speaker and the desired loudness. There are damned few integrateds that output over 100 watts into low impedances. There are more than a handful of loudspeakers that require that power and place heavy demands on the amplifier. In these circumstances, most integrateds will not work that well.
Hi Guy 13 ,You have no problems at all with that setup. The amp can easily drive your 97dB speakers to insane levels Pls let us know how the Niteshade Integrated compares with the Zen Triode 84 for the same listening levels. I have been eyeing the Zen for a long time !
