[ratso]

so i am ALMOST ready to take the plunge and send Wayne my SB for his analogue mod, well at least as soon as i climb out of the debt all this audio gear has put me in. (By the way, get back to work Wayne! How do you get anything done with all your posting in forums and prompt email replies to every jerk like me's stupid questions! VERY IMPRESSIVE that you would take the time to answer prospective customers emails). However one thing has just crossed my mind that gives me pause. I will be using a Promitheus TVC passive preamp in my system. I saw that the output on the Bolder analogue mod is dropped down to i think 1.1 V. Will this be hot enough to run through a TVC? My speakers and amps should be sensitive enough, i will be running quad Emotiva BPA-1's as monoblocks through Gallo REF 3.1's (2 BPA's for the speakers and 2 for the passive woofers). Any thoughts from anyone?

[Wayne1]

Personally, I wouldn't use a TVC between the modded SB and your amp.

The SB usually sounds better run direct into an amp than with lots of wire between it and the amp.

The only exception I have found so far is with the Burson Buffer between the SB and an amp.

The volume control in the SB is VERY good.

[ratso]

thanx for your reply wayne, i do appreciate the input. and yes, i realize from reading other posts from you that you highly recommend going into amps, which i am sure would give the best sound. if i only had my squeezebox to input, that is indeed what i would do. but with all the other things i also have to run into my system, i really need some sort of preamp to input everything. i figure a TVC will give the least artificial colorization to my sound.

[ratso]

besides i already ordered the damn thing.

[Wayne1]

besides i already ordered the damn thing.

In that case, I would suggest you give the Burson Buffer a try as well. You can use it before the TVC just for the SB3 or after the TVC for all your inputs.

I should have a prototype unit of John Chapman's (Bent Audio) TAP-X control center married to a modded Burson Buffer on hand next week.

This should be the best way to interface multiple inputs, including the modded SB, to an amp. It does have remote volume control and input switching.

I will post photos and comment when it shows up.

[zybar]

besides i already ordered the damn thing.

Can you cancel the order?

George

[ctviggen]

I wouldn't worry too much about using a preamp with the modded SB.  That's what I do (as I have way too many inputs to not use a preamp).  I think it still sounds great, although I've not tried the SB directly into the amps for comparison.

[Daygloworange]

Just for fun, try it straight into the amp. I am loathe to put something between the SB 3 and the amp now.

Cheers

[ctviggen]

I can't really do it.  I currently have an Ack Dack, transport, SB, replay, HD cable box, and more going into my preamp.  In order to me to put the SB into my amp, I have to remove all of my equipment, as the amp is in the bottom space of my equipment rack, and I can't reach the back of the amp without removing the shelf above the amp, which means that I'd have to remove the 60 pound 5-channel Bryston amp from that shelf, which means that I'd have to remove my transport.  Also, I don't have the appropriate interconnects for this test (almost all of my interconnects are balanced), which means that I'd be comparing the SB with interconnect 1 into the amp and the SB with interconnect 1 and the preamp with interconnect 2 into the amp.  Now, interconnects may or may not be that big of a deal, but I try to be somewhat scientific in these tests.

Anyway, I'd like to give it a try, but it would take me several hours to perform this test.  Unfortunately, I don't have that time right now. 

[ctviggen]

Oh yeah, I also meant to say that if I did like the SB into the amp better than into the preamp, I can't figure out how I could have some type of parallel system to allow the SB to go into the amp or the preamp to go into the system, so I haven't attempted this test.  Finally, my preamp (Proceed AVP I) supposedly adds "no" processing to the circuit if I run my main speakers as large, which is what I've done. 

[Bigfish]

I have not tried running my analog modded S3 directly into my amps because my system pulls double duty for 2 channel and HT.  My Candela Preamp has an HT bypass otherwise I would have to be switching IC connections all of the time (what a pain).  If I do not want to switch IC connections I will end up with sometime of switching device which means the same amount of cables I currently have in the system.  The easiest solution I can rationalize is to have a long pair of ICs attached to the S3 and a long pair attached to the Candela.  Then I would simply switch connections at the amps.  I guess I need to try the S3 connected directly to the AMPs and then decide if I prefer the Candela in the system. 

Comments would be welcome!

Ken