sweet212
03-31-2013, 07:17 PM
Hi all. I have an old Phase Linear 400 and 2000 pre amp running into a pair of Yamaha NS1000's.
Front end is an ipod and Marantz SACD player.
My preamp has started to "plump" - that is it feeds DC into the power amp - not good.
So being the resourceful soul that I am not - found a solution. I connected the IPOD and CD player directly to the power amp, bypassing the preamp altogether. It works because the power amp has volume controls. IPOD's also have a volume and tone controls. Careful you don't short the input to the power amp - makes really nasty noises.
If you don't need tone controls you could replace the preamp with a switch with several inputs.
I cant hear a sonic difference but in theory less circuitry means better sound.
My 2 cents worth.
Front end is an ipod and Marantz SACD player.
My preamp has started to "plump" - that is it feeds DC into the power amp - not good.
So being the resourceful soul that I am not - found a solution. I connected the IPOD and CD player directly to the power amp, bypassing the preamp altogether. It works because the power amp has volume controls. IPOD's also have a volume and tone controls. Careful you don't short the input to the power amp - makes really nasty noises.
If you don't need tone controls you could replace the preamp with a switch with several inputs.
I cant hear a sonic difference but in theory less circuitry means better sound.
My 2 cents worth.