p-8 preamp

beachbum · « **on:** 5 Jan 2006, 03:09 pm »

got my p-8 yesterday, a great match for my ref9s, the remote is more than i thought, it has all functions, after hooking up to my system the sound right out of the box was really sweet, i dont have enough inputs for all of my sources, it was getting late when i connected my turntable and i could not get the hum out, i tryed grounding the arm to my bpt power unit, with no help, the mini rcas for input 4 are not helping me eather, i have a ps phono amp coming with its own output control which should work for input 3, for now cds are sounding real nice, as is cable box, mike

rustydoglim · « **Reply #1 on:** 6 Jan 2006, 11:02 am »

P-8 doesn't have phono input so I don't understand your problem. But your idea of connecting the phono amp output to P-8's pass-through input (can't remember which channel) is a good idea.

beachbum · « **Reply #2 on:** 6 Jan 2006, 10:21 pm »

hello and thanks for replying jason, input 3 which is the pass through is the one i was going to try and use when i get my ps phono pre, i was getting the hum by using input 1, it was late and i havent had the time to get back into it, can input 4 which is the rca mini be used for dvd with a mini to rca adapter, btw i had time to listen to cds last night after about 20 hrs of break in and the sound is realy coming around, thanks for a sweet preamp at a real reasonable price, mike

GBB · « **Reply #3 on:** 14 Jan 2006, 11:59 pm »

I also picked up a P8 preamp and I've got it burning in now. Preliminary sound quality is surprisingly good, especially given the low price.
One thing that I'm not clear on is the pass-through function of one of the inputs. Can you say a bit more about how this works?
From various comments it sounds as if input 3 is the passthrough connection. Does this always passthrough or only sometimes? Can one bypass this mode and use it in a conventional manner?

And while I'm asking for help, is there any means of adjusting gain of the preamp? I've got some relatively high sensitivity speakers and I could use more attenuation at the bottom end of the volume control when using those speakers.
Thanks,
---Gary

nuforce-casey · « **Reply #4 on:** 15 Jan 2006, 03:27 am »

Input 3 = Pass-Through = Input 3 will pass from input to output without any attenuation from P8's volume control, so the upstream component connected to Input 3 (Ipod, Home Theater processor) can have its own volume control.

Low-level listening = We are working on an alternative software that would extend the volume control to have more low-level steppings. This will be a software change that can be performed at the factory.

GBB · « **Reply #5 on:** 15 Jan 2006, 12:52 pm »

Quote from: Casey

Low-level listening = We are working on an alternative software that would extend the volume control to have more low-level steppings. This will be a software change that can be performed at the factory.

Casey,
Thanks for the quick response - its really appreciated.

As long as I'm passing along other things for you to consider in terms of tweaking the P8 - here's another one. We had some bad weather here in New York last night and a couple of times the power flickered off for a couple of seconds, probably when a tree took down a power line due to the high winds. The power amps I was using have linear supplies with large capacitors so they kept on playing through the small power outage. The P8 turned off but also emitted an alarmingly loud pop. It wasn't loud enough to damage speakers - but it was a bit unexpected and had me worried until the power came back and it was clear everything was fine. Is there anyway to make them handle this sort of power dip a bit more gracefully?
Let me reassure everyone that during normal power on and off cycles they are extremely well behaved, so this is really rather out of the ordinary and very unusual circumstances.
Thanks,
---Gary

beachbum · « **Reply #6 on:** 15 Jan 2006, 08:11 pm »

my p-8 is well broke in and rock and rolling with my ref 9s, i am not using the pass threw and i thought i could with the ps phono pre, i could not tame the hum, using input 1 for phono, input 2 for cd, and 4 with a 3.5 to rca stereo plug for hd cable box, and when i need to i swap input 4 with my dvd player already connected to a adapter, i think cox cable offers a hd box with its own volume power and then i could use input 3, not really a big deal as most of the time its phono or cd, like now looking at the pittsburgh kicking indys butt with music on, mike