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Can I connect my source directly to my power amp?

mandryka

mandryka

pfm Member
I have a whim to try this, but before I do I thought I'd post here in case there are any obvious dangers -- I don't want to fry the speakers, for example.

The power amp is a Quad 520f, and the speakers are ESL 63s. Source is streamed and controlled with a tablet app which has its own volume control.
 
As long as your sure you can set off at zero volume, then it’s worth a try. Digital volume controls weren’t the best though, there’s good reasons pre amps exist :D
 
The source is a Logitech squeezebox and Museatex DAC, streaming my own files or Qobuz or spotify.

If I understand things correctly, in y system this should be more truthful to the recording than any preamp, and certainly better than any passive preamp. Is that right?
 
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many folks try dacs straight into power amps , its an ok sound sometimes but not as good as using a pre amp in my experience . i have a dac playing straight into the power amps now temporarily and i have done this many times . EVERY time i have put a pre in it has becoame more musical and bigger soundstage
 
So the quality of a preamp is not determined by the absence of effect on the signal? It really was this idea which initially made me interested in the experiment. I was on the point of buying a passive amplifier, an Audio Synthesis Passion, but at the last minute I let it go to someone else reasoning that, in my set up, I'd be better off just plugging the DAC into the power amp. Have I goofed?
 
+1: all three is possible. You have to listen and decide what does it for you. I need MC-input apart from the DAC input, so I have opted for a set-up with computer (JRiver Media software player) ---> DAC ---> preamp ---> power amp. It really sounds great.
In the past I owned a Squeezebox Touch and used it into a pre, so did not use it directly into the power amp. All options are open as long as you like what you hear.

EDIT: my current power amp has power dials, so I could use a source directly into it. I actually did that with a few EAR power amps in the past.
 
I'd use a passive pre personally and keep vol at max in the app. I wouldn't trust the app to never come on at full volume.... it only needs to happen once and that's probably your tweeters fried. No pre amp will always sound better than a pre amp, the opposite of what others are saying above in fact, and a passive (not really a pre as is it passive and doesn't amplify... but as it's the accepted term...)has pretty much no sound of its own.
 
When pfm folk told me my Radford SC22 was poor and passive pre’s were the way forward I thought I’d go one better and plug my Squeezebox Touch (via Rega DAC) straight into the STA15. Didn’t like it, I thought it sounded lifeless in comparison. Takes all sorts, dunnit?
 
Lots of people say that and I couldn't disagree more strongly. A £5 pot in a plastic box will beat any active pre amp even if it cost £10,000 IMO. I guess some people like colouration.
 
Arkless Electronics said:
Lots of people say that
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That’s interesting. I had assumed I was in a minority of one, as usual.

Arkless Electronics said:
I guess some people like colouration.
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Well, that’s definitely true. Perhaps I’m one of them. I suppose you first have to find the reference person who can identify 100% uncoloured sound. But what should I do, go for a colouration I enjoy, or one that I don’t but which I am told is more accurate? (Rhetorical question.)
 
Presumably it's colouration which people like in valve amps. I've often wondered why it isn't possible to introduce valve amp sound in a solid state system using digital signal processing to add the appropriate colour.

By the way, I still haven't tried the experiment, but this weekend it's on. What I can say is that somehow at the moment the mostly quad system sounds very "synergistic" And I wonder if the colouration of the speakers/amp/preamp wasn't in fact all planned out. Basically it sounds good! But a lot of it could be familiarity, and not really knowing what the possibilities for improvement are.
 
Tim de Paravicini's product line at EAR Yoshino goes in the opposite direction: it proves that it is possible to make valve amps sound like solid state. I think he originally went that way to stand out from the competition.
 
Marchbanks said:
That’s interesting. I had assumed I was in a minority of one, as usual.



Well, that’s definitely true. Perhaps I’m one of them. I suppose you first have to find the reference person who can identify 100% uncoloured sound. But what should I do, go for a colouration I enjoy, or one that I don’t but which I am told is more accurate? (Rhetorical question.)
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My view is that a hi fi is not supposed to be enjoyable. It's supposed to be an open window to the recording itself, warts n all.
 
Rosewind said:
Tim de Paravicini's product line at EAR Yoshino goes in the opposite direction: it proves that it is possible to make valve amps sound like solid state. I think he originally went that way to stand out from the competition.
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My aim with all my designs, whether solid state or valve, is that you should not be able to tell which it is by its sound:)
 
Arkless Electronics said:
My view is that a hi fi is not supposed to be enjoyable. It's supposed to be an open window to the recording itself, warts n all.
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My view is that it is supposed to be both. If it was not supposed to be enjoyable I would ignore the song part and only spend my money on wine and women.

Although maybe you hold a similar view on sex - it’s not supposed to be enjoyable, it is simply supposed to enable the human race to continue, warts n all. I’m struggling to find an alcohol analogy, perhaps I’ll try after a beer. Here’s hoping I don’t enjoy it!
 
Marchbanks said:
My view is that it is supposed to be both. If it was not supposed to be enjoyable I would ignore the song part and only spend my money on wine and women.

Although maybe you hold a similar view on sex - it’s not supposed to be enjoyable, it is simply supposed to enable the human race to continue, warts n all. I’m struggling to find an alcohol analogy, perhaps I’ll try after a beer. Here’s hoping I don’t enjoy it!
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Your analogies miss the point as non of them is trying to recreate a facsimile of an original but is intended to be enjoyed on its own merits.

The music itself is what we are aiming to enjoy and a good hi fi is meant to offer a high degree of fidelity to the original. Not provide a non artist approved re-mix!
 
Right, I misunderstood your phraseology. A bit of free advice - never use a strapline like ‘Arkless - because hifi is not supposed to be enjoyable.’!

I think I disagree with your earlier comment that ‘some people like colouration.’ I think all people do, just different amounts and sorts. I bet if 100 people sat behind a mastering desk (assuming they knew how to use it) and were told to make it sound the way they like it they would all come up with different settings. And none would be the same as those chosen by the original engineer. That’s just human physiology at work. But that’s a completely different point to yours about wanting the equipment to sound like an open window to the recording, which is obviously fair enough.
 
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