Why would any idiot want to do that you might he wondering?
This is a debate I'm having with a good friend. I have an Audio Research preamplifier, it's the main preamp in my stereo system and I love the way it sounds, and the main thing is that I have a remote control. I also have a Spectral preamp, this does not have a remote, but it does have a phenomenal phono stage in it (my AR does not have a phono preamp).
I connected the Spectral to the phono in on the audio research and turned the volume knob all the way up on the Spectral to utilize it's phono stage but still have a remote control. So... RCA from turntable to phono in on Spectral... out on Spectral (that would normally go to the amp) to Audio Research phono in (volume all the way up on Spectral).
My friend thinks by doing this I will double the output voltage and have clipping issues. My debate is that output voltage would be dictated by the phono section in the Spectral, so this will not be a problem.
For what it's worth, this seems to have worked marvelously, it sounds fantastic. I also have a Lehmann Black Cube SE phono preamp, and the Spectral does sound better.
What do you guys with more technical understanding of this than me say?
This is a debate I'm having with a good friend. I have an Audio Research preamplifier, it's the main preamp in my stereo system and I love the way it sounds, and the main thing is that I have a remote control. I also have a Spectral preamp, this does not have a remote, but it does have a phenomenal phono stage in it (my AR does not have a phono preamp).
I connected the Spectral to the phono in on the audio research and turned the volume knob all the way up on the Spectral to utilize it's phono stage but still have a remote control. So... RCA from turntable to phono in on Spectral... out on Spectral (that would normally go to the amp) to Audio Research phono in (volume all the way up on Spectral).
My friend thinks by doing this I will double the output voltage and have clipping issues. My debate is that output voltage would be dictated by the phono section in the Spectral, so this will not be a problem.
For what it's worth, this seems to have worked marvelously, it sounds fantastic. I also have a Lehmann Black Cube SE phono preamp, and the Spectral does sound better.
What do you guys with more technical understanding of this than me say?
Don't forget the Spectral preamp line section probably has gain, unless you set the volume at unity gain position on the Spectral preamp otherwise its preamp output voltage will be different from its phono stage output voltage.
Will that caused clipping is depends on downstream equipment.
@rayma, since I posted that's exactly what I figured out. Using the tape out on the Spectral, to the phono in on my Audio Research works great. Now the volume and balance on my Spectral no longer function (that's a good thing). It sounds pretty much the same, but I did have to turn the phono gain up a tad on the Spectral to match my CD player... which (I think) means the preamp section of the Spectral does actually increase line voltage. Not sure if that was a bad thing but it still sounds great and eliminating the volume and balance controls can't be a bad thing.
Thanks for the replies!!
Thanks for the replies!!
I’m that friend. 😂 And just to clarify my concern since we haven’t talked live see below.
My concern was the output voltage on the Spectral possibly being higher than what the Audio Research wants to see at it’s line level inputs. Specifically in this case with the Spectral volume being pinned to the max.
My worry wasn’t that you’re doubling voltage by running it through the Spectral, then through the Audio Research. It’s that maybe you’re overpowering your inputs on the Audio Research. I believe that’s possible.
My understanding is that the output voltage presented by your Spectral isn’t being determined by the Audio Research volume. If you were to play a static test tone through the Spectral, the voltage at the rca outputs is determined by the source of your music, the Spectral line stage itself, and then where you set its volume knob to. If you turn down the volume knob on the Spectral, the voltage decreases. If you turn up the volume knob, the voltage increases. But if you then go to your Audio Research preamp and turn the volume knob up or down, the voltage doesn’t increase or decrease on the Spectrals RCA’s. Think of it this way. I’m maxed out on the Spectral’s output voltage, if I turn the AR volume up a little more, do I increase the voltage. My thought is no
That’s my understanding at least and I could be totally wrong. Would love to hear the reasons why either way.
Also in regards to clipping, maybe that’s a bad term because 9 times out of 10 most people are referring to an amplifier clipping. Maybe it’s impossible. My thought was that you could cause clipping in a preamp itself since in theory it’s still an amplifier if you’re running into issues with the source sending a signal to the preamp. I’m guessing either way by turning up the Spectral volume all the way at you’re at a minimum introducing noise and distortion. Yes/no?
The ARC preamps typically send the line signals to the selector switch, and then to the balance and volume controls,
so that will be overload proof. Most audio gear is connected in this way for that reason.
Yes, any linear circuit can clip, given enough input signal, and a high enough volume control setting.
However, the position of the volume control won't increase the line stage noise, since that is constant,
independent of the control, because the control precedes the line stage. A very few line stages do have
ganged pots both before and after the line stage for this reason, to decrease the noise at low volume settings.
so that will be overload proof. Most audio gear is connected in this way for that reason.
Yes, any linear circuit can clip, given enough input signal, and a high enough volume control setting.
However, the position of the volume control won't increase the line stage noise, since that is constant,
independent of the control, because the control precedes the line stage. A very few line stages do have
ganged pots both before and after the line stage for this reason, to decrease the noise at low volume settings.
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