This is sort of a variation owner post I made earlier, but I wanted to get specific. I have a stellar S 300 power amp. I purchased a Ladder Bach Which happens to be a unity or zero gain Preamp. I connected the preamp to the power amp with RCA cables. My sources are a Zen streamer and an audio lab Cd transport connected to a Ghishelli DAC. That DAC has no volume the DAC is connected to the preamp.
Preamp. I connected the preamp to the power amp with RCA cables. My sources are a Zen streamer and an audio lab Cd transport connected to a Ghishelli DAC. That DAC has no volume the DAC is connected to the preamp.
The problem is, I am getting what I would consider less than acceptable volume. I can essentially turn the preamp all the way up and itâs about where I would start listening to something if I wanted to play it loud. This is more than volume than I normally use, but certainly Iâm not getting the volume. I would like to have available to me if I already wanted to âjam outâ
When listening to quieter music acoustic jazz some classical I would say that itâs barely acceptable volume
So my question is, are there any folks out there who are using the S 300 with the Unity gain preamp and getting good volume from it? Or is it normal to be able to turn up Unity gain preamp up to 100% volume to get the loudness you want?
Eye connected the amp to a borrowed preamp with gain, and I couldnât turn it up more than 30% Volume before It came too much for me with energetic music so to speak. I would appreciate your input.
Your system will play satisfactorily loud only if the source component has high enough output to drive the amp to your preferrd volune level. As you know, a unity gain preamp can only cut volume.
Check the specifications. I expect you will find that the output of the source unit is too low to fully drive your amplifier.
I will contact Ghishelli to find out the output of the DAC. my two sources the zen streamer and audio lab CD both transports. I have an oppo Multi disk player that now that Iâm thinking about it, Iâll try to run it into the preamp and see what happens. Maybe it has enough Output
That DAC is a highly regarded unit for the price nothing exotic about it. But what I canât understand is why would anybody buy this preamp if a Quality standard what you might call run-of-the-mill DAC couldnât provide enough current to push a 300 W amp. I mean, do you need to buy a DAC with a Volume control. Most DACs as far as a note donât have volume
Iâm no hi-fi expert I know just enough to be dangerous so speak. But Iâm just shaking my head that a pretty standard set up couldnât produce enough volume to satisfy your average listener. I mean I donât listen to that loud but they have to turn the preamp up 100% to get To what I would consider my head banging party mode listening. And it wonât push it any further than that, even though the loudspeakers cause easily handle 50% more volume.. And it also affects the lower volume listening as well. It just doesnât seem to have much energy or anything if youâre listening to quieter music.
A source components job is to drive a preamp, not an amp. Sometimes a given source and a particular amp work well together with only a passive volume control, but this is serendipity.
What you think is a problem is actually what typically happens when trying to use a passive preamp. Your issue is easily resolved with the use of a preamp with gain, or the purchase of a new source which has sufficient output to drive your amplifier directly.
I have driven, my S300 with a affordable [200$ on Ali] passive preamp, silky sound, accurate bass, quiet sound floor and when listen to live recording, I was searching the waiter for a drink!
want to try this one: with XLR, but to complicated, XLR work only XLR and RCA out work with XLR and RCA. Also not sure, if real XLR or a adaptive XLR version. Sometime XLR on a preamp, are not XLR, i mean real XLRâŠ!
the passive was better but miss so meat on the midrange, this one a bit noisy when you put your ear directly near tweeter, but voice are silky, so till I could afford a PS preamp, this will do and have more gain!
I forgot to mention, the âWAFâ, both are remote!
This is how I cope, with what i want and what i could afford!
I am interested in what Ghishelli says is the output voltage of your DAC. Most DACs are 2V or higher. In a test review done by Home Theater and Hi Fidelity, they measured an output voltage of only 1.4V on the Ghishelli JNOG3 DAC. This coupled with your passive preamplifier may be causing the lower than desired volume you are dealing with.
that seems to be the issue all right Iâve got a call into them, so Iâll talk to him next week. I still see a preamp should be able to work with your average DAC. Maybe most DACs have higher voltage. I donât know
