[jandrews]

Hello
I’m a newish owner of a Spark purchased a couple of month ago.  Using it with Omega Super 7 monitors and the combo has been so good!  I’m currently feeding the Spark directly from the output of my quite old dac (C.A.L.) but I’m replacing it with a new dac/preamp and curious if it’s OK to feed the spark a pre-amped signal?  I think the spark is essentially a power amp with a passive pre (input selector and passive volume knob)…is that correct? Could I use a preamp in front of the spark and if so, where to set the volume knob?
Thank you
JS

[Audiovista]

Welcome to the circle and thank you for owning our product!

Spark and Omega speakers are indeed a great combo. Come to think of it, that is not surprising as Louis and I have similar philosophy when it comes to designing audio products.

Spark can be used with a preamp. When the volume control is set to maximum, RCA inputs are directly connected to the amplification stage. As the volume potentiometer is in the rear of the unit there are no unnecessary wires. Even though maxing volume control is a perfectly good way to use Spark as a power amp, I find myself often setting it a 3:30 or 4PM position, i seem to like that setting most when using Spark with a preamp. What I’m trying to say is - experimenting is always good Looking forward to hearing about your experience.

Enjoy,
Boris

[jandrews]

Great to know, Thanks Boris,
What's the reasoning behind leaving the volume knob at 3 or 4?  Is it advisable to keep a little attenuation ahead of the power amp?

thanks
JS

[Audiovista]

There are really no technical reasons that I can think of, but subjectively the sound seems smoother, more balanced. In a similar way I prefer Phono-2 set to 50dB gain when used with MM (I think it sounds more dynamic), although commonly used 40dB setting works perfectly fine

I would not bet against placebo effect.