[AllanS]

Schiit makes a big deal of their new Kara preamp rail voltage. Why should I care?

“ …Kara’s +/-32V rails are insanely over the top, giving it the capability of swinging near 100V on the differential output, and contributing to the best-performing, best-measuring preamp we’ve ever made—near -120dB THD+N from balanced.”

[JohnR]

In and of itself, you shouldn't.

If the high rails enable them to create an amplification stage that's more linear in the voltage range you do care about, then it's ... sortof relevant.

[Speedskater]

Not many power amplifiers need a 100 Volt swing!
I would call it a design that doesn't fit the application.

[TomS]

Perhaps if you measure noise (if remaining relatively constant) against that larger signal swing, the S/N ratio also looks a bit better 

[RonN5]

As we all know, Schiit is prone to some marketing hyperbole  but they pretty much seem to back it up, whether it matters or not, with well reviewed, good sounding products.

So, isn't the real question, what do Kara owners think of the sound of their Kara?

[djpk]

I have the Kara and I like it a lot. Using it with the Schiit Audio Aegir amplifier powering Zu Audio Union 6 speakers. I can't imagine a better combination. Very happy with Schiit Audio gear.

[AllanS]

Thanks for the explanations.  I don’t know electronics but was speculating the higher voltage might provide something like finer resolution in the normal operating range - something comparable to 0.5 dB volume steps rather than 1.0.

I have a Lyr, Bifrost, and Lokius that I recently retired from desktop duty.  I’m tempted to add a Aegir 2 when available to see how it works as a main system.  The Kara is interesting because I also have a Class D amp I’d want to include in the mix using balanced.