If you are who I think you are, you know my stance on synergy and preamps.
Most people fundamentally know what synergy is, yet a lot don't know how to achieve it. Its not about pairing up a 'warm' piece with a 'bright' piece. Its about maximizing sterngths and minimizing weaknesses. When you truly have synergy, the sum of the parts is far greater than the whole.
In regards to diminshing returns, a lot of people look at that a bit wrong as well. From a pure sound quality standpoint, the diminishing returns curve kicks in pretty quickly. If you factor in things like build quality, durability, warantee and support, future proofing, and resellibility, then the curve gets higher.
I think the pre-amp is the most overlooked and underappreciated link in the chain. Most times people are debating speakers, sources, or amps. I've had dealers do side by side comparisons of pre-amps. There was a huge difference to my ears. Listen to a single chassis pre-amp, then a dual chassis one from the same manufacturer. There's a huge difference. In a perfect world, pre-amps would just switch sources and control volume. Better pre-amps cut down on noise, grunge, etc. A better pre-amp gives a cleaner window.
The RA-02 is a very good integrated amp for the money. The pre-amp section may be a passive one. Passive pre-amps are a great concept on paper. But if they were perfect, they're wouldn't be any active ones. In my experience, passive pre-amps are a very one trick pony. They sound great at one certain volume level. I've heard technically why and it made sense, but its over my head and I won't try to explain it. Passive pre-amps have their downfalls in a similar fashion to what I'm about to say...
A better pre-amp should do a lot of things. It should have better fine tuning of the volume. Ever have a system that needed to be louder before it sounded its best? Pre-amps play a big part of that. Until the amp clips, the sound quality should be the same regardless of volume. If the volume is extremely low, that's one thing. But when once everything is audible, it shouldn't matter where the volume control is. A better pre-amp will also have better channel balance. Especially at low volumes, less expensive pre-amps will have an uneven balance between speakers. Speakers and the room play a part in this, but in my experience the pre-amp plays just as much a part, and maybe more in some circumstances. When I owned my 320BEE and B60, I played around with them together. Using one as a pre and the other as an amp, and switching them around. The 320BEE was basically incapable of playing at a low volume. When the B60 was the pre, the problem went away completely; when the 320BEE was the pre, it was back. The 320BEE had balance problems; the entire soundstage was about a foot to the right. The balance control helped it, and I thought it was the room. Nope. The B60 as a pre eliminated it. Using the B60 as a pre, the sound was so much cleaner, images were better defined, the soundstage opened up, frequency balance was better, and everything was tightened up.
The 320BEE's poweramp section wasn't bad at all. There was far more difference between the pre-amp and power amp. Using the B60 as a pre-amp with it made it far better than it should be. But, the B60's power amp section is far better too.
Why mention the 320BEE? Its about the same MSRP as the RA-02. I think it was its direct competitor. The 320BEE's truest downfall was the pre-amp. The RA-02's pre-amp may be better, but how much better?
Unless you were underpowering your speakers, a Bryston pre-amp in your system should make just as much of a difference in your system as your amps made. The best way to find out if its worth it is an audition if possible. If an audition isn't possible, a second hand pre from Audiogon should give you the opportunity to hear it at home with little risk. If its not worth it, you should be able to sell it for what you paid for it.
