Need a good preamp for the LeachAmp

[roger-k]

Now I'm playing with my Denon CD-player and the Leach Amp.
This combination works very good because the CD-player has integrated volume control.

Sometimes I miss the possibility to controll the bass and treble, specially if I play with low volume and sometimes when I listen to old music.

Therefore I want to make a simple and good preamp with inputselector, bass, treble, balance and volume -control.

Is there any who have some experience with these?
http://www.mitedu.freeserve.co.uk/Ci...dio/t-ctrl.htm
or:
http://sound.westhost.com/project97.htm

I also know about the preamp construct by Mr. Leach himself but it is difficult to get the pots with reverse log thaper.

I will be glad for any tips from you!

[roger-k]

I also know about this:
http://www.tcaas.btinternet.co.uk/jlhmodpre.htm

But I will not do a lot of work with drawing, making PCB etc. if the preamp is not good. I also want a relay in the circuit which can bypass the tone-controls.

I hope any can give me some feedback based on your experience.

[roger-k]

Does this mean that all of you who have The Leach Amp not use a active preamp..........?

[AndrewT]

Hi,
the recording producer has gone to a lot of effort to balance the sound to give the effect he and the artists are happy to release to the public.

And you want to muck it up with bass and treble controls.

No wonder no one wants to reply.

[roger-k]

Yes, I want to muck it up with bass and treble controls!!!!

If the sounds shall be equal to the sounds in the record studio, you need to play it on the same volume as in the studio, plus: No speakers are identical. But as I say, I want the possibility to boost up the bass when I play with low volume.

[acenovelty]

Since no speakers are identical is the purpose of a graphic equalizer. Properly used and calibrated solves all the problems regardless of the volume level.

Regards

[Arius]

I have a Leach clone amp and it sounds great.

Bass and treble controls are useful in some cases but the problem is any preamp with those features will generally not sound so good.

I have tried a Parasound Halo P3 and a Anthem TLP1 (they both have tone controls). Even with the preamp set to source direct (tone bypassed), the sound with these preamps compared to a high end volume-only preamp has a big difference.

[Mikett]

Leach also has a matching FET preamp for his amp but it has never gained the popularity of his power amp. A smooth and silky sound sound. Not unlike the power amp.

[beppe61]

Originally posted by Arius
I have a Leach clone amp and it sounds great.
...
I have tried a Parasound Halo P3 and a Anthem TLP1 (they both have tone controls).
Even with the preamp set to source direct (tone bypassed), the sound with these preamps compared to a high end volume-only preamp has a big difference.

May I kindly ask you to elaborate?
Which option do you prefer?
When you say "a high end volume-only preamp" I think you refer to a passive line preamp.
Am I wrong?

Thank you and kind regards,

beppe

[Arius]

Hi Beppe,

I was referring (during my auditions of various preamps) to preamps that are simple but well designed: either passives or makes like Conrad Johnson, Pass Labs, Mark Levinson.

Anyways, please do not let my opinion of how preamps sound in my listening area with my source, cables and speakers. Yours is bound to be different. I strongly encourage you to try them out.

If your speakers are not full range or you have room modes you need to equalize, then tone controls can be helpful. Many folks here don't like it because the tone circuit itself introduces significant distortion. As you can read here in the forum, they try so hard not to use plain potentiometers for the volume function (they use Alps, Nobel, switched attenuators, ICs, etc). Once you have a tone circuit, it's hard to do fancy stuff like dual-mono, multiple regulation, etc (or maybe I should say it's hard to justify going the extreme route).

Let your ears decide for you.