jono338 Posted July 19, 2021 Posted July 19, 2021 (edited) Hi, my pre-amp has max output of 8V, but it's matching power amp gives max output at 1.5V. I've seen this scheme is very common ... but I don't understand why? It seems it makes you only use the a small part of the pre-amps available output. Can anyone explain why this is a common scheme? thanks Jon Edited July 19, 2021 by jono338
GregWormald Posted July 19, 2021 Posted July 19, 2021 I'm not an expert in audio history, but I suspect that the max output of the pre is only reached when the input max of the pre is reached—and many sources are much less than that. Turntables usually have a much lower output than the current crop of digital players. As long as you have enough movement in the volume control to make the adjustments you want, all is fine.
RoHo Posted July 20, 2021 Posted July 20, 2021 23 hours ago, jono338 said: Hi, my pre-amp has max output of 8V, but it's matching power amp gives max output at 1.5V. I've seen this scheme is very common ... but I don't understand why? It seems it makes you only use the a small part of the pre-amps available output. Can anyone explain why this is a common scheme? thanks Jon You're right to wonder why this seems to be standard pratice. We seem to always have excess gain which we then always need to attenuate at the next stage. We have just got to the stage where it is seen as normal or even desirable to never need to turn the volume control above 1/3 of its total travel - "my amp is so powerful I never turn the volume past 10 o'clock". From a manufacturers POV I guess they want to guarantee their source/pre-amp will be compatible with absolutely any following power amp WRT signal level. Never mind that this means for the vast majority of situations you have to significantly attenuate the signal at some stage in the chain. Another reason why an all-in-one active speaker is probably technically better
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