You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. Thread starter chrisus Start date Jul 17, Hi as the title says. I am looking at buying a new amp and am very interested in the Hegel range made in Norway. BlueWizard Distinguished Member. When there is a surge in the current demand on the amp, it doesn't drag down the voltage on the pre-amp. Though there are a few high end consumer integrated amps that have separate power supplies for the pre-amp and power output sections.
For me, another advantage is flexibility. If my electronic components are completely separated, I can upgrade an one component when I feel I need it, and keep what I like. For most buyers, it gets down to budget. Keep in mind that most integrated amps of the caliber we seem to be talking about, are going to have pre-amp outputs, so if the need arises, you can still add an external power amp to them.
Perhaps creating a bi-amping situation. For me, there are plenty of integrated amps costing several thousand. Still, some people like to have everything as separate as possible, and more power to them, if they can afford it.
Last edited: Jul 17, Aardvarks Active Member. I agree with every word that Steve has said and Davieboy00 Active Member. Aardvarks said:. Click to expand Member Distinguished Member. Power, accuracy, control, flexibility. A balanced connection reduces the risk of induced noise from power cords, radio-frequency interference RFI , and electromagnetic interference EMI. By the way, if you are going to the expense of a balanced system, make sure it is balanced throughout the amp and not just at the inputs.
In a nutshell, here is how a balanced connection works. As I mentioned above, the two signal conductors carry the same signal, but one is out of phase with the other. Any induced noise that is picked up along the cable will be at the same phase in both conductors. At the amp's input, a differential amplifier recognizes and rejects any signal that is in phase in both conductors, leaving only the intended audio signal. Using balanced connections can help reduce the risk of ground loops, but only if each device's ground is properly implemented.
However, this is generally not recommended, because you lose any noise rejection and ground-loop isolation. If you must connect balanced to unbalanced, you can use a transformer to isolate all unbalanced connections, as shown above. Various manufacturers, such as Rane , make boxes for this purpose. Otherwise, you need to make special cables as described in this excellent article about audio-system connections from Rane. Speaker Outputs Because most speaker cables are not shielded, they should be as short as possible to minimize the chance of picking up noise along the way.
If you subscribe to this argument, we suggest using cables of equal length for the front left, center, and right and cables of longer but equal length for the surrounds, since the surrounds are likely to be farther away from the amp. On the other hand, this means that some of the cables will be longer than they need to be, and the excess length could lead you to coil them, which can change the overall capacitance and inductance, not to mention increasing the chance of picking up induced noise.
In reality, the difference in sound from cables of different lengths is probably negligible, so we believe it's best to use cables of just the right length from the amp to each speaker. Depending on the type of connectors used for the amp's outputs and the speakers' inputs, the speaker cables can be terminated with banana plugs, spade lugs, or simply bare wire. Most importantly, make sure the polarity is the same for all speaker connections. Similarly, the speaker outputs on most amps and the inputs on most speakers are color-coded red and black.
It really doesn't matter if the colors match, only that they are all the same orientation, though matching the colors is much easier to keep track of. On the amp pictured at the top of this article, each output is coded with a different color for each positive terminal, but the negative terminals are all black; in such a case, connect the red-coded speaker-cable conductors to the colored terminals and the black-coded conductors to the black terminals.
Then, at the other end of the cable, connect the red conductor to the red terminal of each speaker and the black conductor to the black terminal. If not, don't worry about it; this is a feature that's losing favor, especially among more mainstream manufacturers. However, depending on the amp, this can introduce a lot of noise into the audio signal.
Here is a quick procedure to ensure the trim controls are set optimally. Some pre-amps no longer include amplifier circuitry for magnetic phono cartridges. For convenience and increased flexibility, most pre-amps add controls for balance left and right , tone bass, treble and sometimes midrange and a headphone output jack.
Most modern pre-amps include a remote control that allows the operation of most features from your listening position. This is not necessary, but it is a convenience. Another convenience is a switched AC outlet on the back panel. This allows you to plug the AC power cord of your power amp into the pre-amp, so both can be turned on and off with the pre-amp's power switch.
Decide what features and controls you need and make sure that your pre-amp of choice includes them. This sounds plausible and there may be an element of truth in it, but not always. Sometimes it is just a ploy to sell a stripped-down product for higher profit. I recently purchased a new pre-amp and in the course of my selection process, I auditioned a highly regarded minimalist pre-amp. This unit had no remote control, panel lights, tone controls, or even a balance control.
However, the full-featured Marantz SCS1 that I eventually purchased was quieter than the minimalist unit, as well as much more convenient to use! Most pre-amps and power amps are designed to be compatible, so mixing and matching brands is not usually a problem. Neither is using components of different ages. Component manufacturers usually offer pre and power amps that are designed for each other.
Using matched pre and power amps eliminates the possibility of mistakes. It would be hard to go wrong by matching a Marantz pre-amp with a Marantz power amp or a McIntosh pre-amp with a McIntosh power amp. Stereo pre-amplifiers are sophisticated instruments and it is my opinion that the best are manufactured in developed countries.
0コメント