Audiophonics AP310 balanced preamp

[ohskigod]

I use one as well. topping e70 velvet into the Ap310 into my icepower 125asx2 conductor monoblocks. nothing but smiles. just a tiny touch on the warm side of neutral, and I mean a TOUCH

 

[funkera91]

I use one as well. topping e70 velvet into the Ap310 into my icepower 125asx2 conductor monoblocks. nothing but smiles. just a tiny touch on the warm side of neutral, and I mean a TOUCH

Do you have any recordings , how do they both compare? Is better combination than Audiophonics Preamp AP310, does Audiophonics sound cold, thiny? Can you compare to your previous AMP's, please?

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

I Have been using AP31 PA for a while now and as far as I can tell, it sounds sweet and nothing dramatic stands out, no hiss etc. and the operation has been flawless. I like the look of it, I must admit.

 

[SKApretto71]

They also have a nice combo with this matching amplifier. Could very possibly be my new combo.

View attachment 425028

Pack Audiophonics AP310-PREAMP Preamplifier + Audiophonics AP300-S250NC Amplifier + Câbles XLR Audiophonics Wire 30cm

This Audiophonics pack includes the AP310-PREAMP preamplifier, the AP300-S250NC stereo amplifier, Audiophonics Wire XLR connection cables and a trigger cable. It will enable you to set up a high-performance HiFi system...

www.audiophonics.fr

Why this combo and not the integrated AUDIOPHONICS AP310-P250NC Integrated Amplifier NCore NC252MP - https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/integrated-amplifiers/audiophonics-ap310-p250nc-nc252mp-p-18970.html -

I'm debated from the integrated or just the power amp to pair my Topping D70 Pro (that has a preamp capability to control volume attenuation). Advices?

 

[Ropeburn]

Why this combo and not the integrated AUDIOPHONICS AP310-P250NC Integrated Amplifier NCore NC252MP - https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/integrated-amplifiers/audiophonics-ap310-p250nc-nc252mp-p-18970.html -

I'm debated from the integrated or just the power amp to pair my Topping D70 Pro (that has a preamp capability to control volume attenuation). Advices?

In the end, it all works perfectly fine. It's pretty much a question of features you need, and aesthetics and practicality you prefer.

Oh, and welcome to ASR!

 

[SKApretto71]

In the end, it all works perfectly fine. It's pretty much a question of features you need, and aesthetics and practicality you prefer.

Oh, and welcome to ASR!

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Feature wise I feel I just need the power amp and one XLR input

But I keep reading a pre-amp make sense after a DAC even if it has volume control so I'm puzzled. I do not need 4 inputs nor a display, and as far as volume attenuation is done by the DAC I 'should' be fine, in theory. The D70 Pro output should be enough to feed a power amp, as far s I can tell. I'm missing something?

 

[Ropeburn]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Feature wise I feel I just need the power amp and one XLR input

But I keep reading a pre-amp make sense after a DAC even if it has volume control so I'm puzzled. I do not need 4 inputs nor a display, and as far as volume attenuation is done by the DAC I 'should' be fine, in theory. The D70 Pro output should be enough to feed a power amp, as far s I can tell. I'm missing something?

The DAC effectively acts as a preamp due to its volume control. Electrically it's the exact same as a preamp.

To make sure a source (DAC, preamp, whatever) and poweramp combination works, you need two figures:

1) Source maximum output level. The D70 pro does 4.2V on balanced out, nicely adhering to the 4V standard - not all gear does. Even has a selectable 5V mode, but you won't need that. Because:

2) Those Audiophonics 252 poweramps have an input sensitivity (input voltage required for full power output) of 2x0.83V = 1.66V. That's lower and means a 4V source can easily drive it to full power, and then some.

The rather big difference is actually a good thing, because some software sources can refuse to output full volume, for example YouTube. The "too high" volume of the DAC relative to the poweramp input suddenly becomes handy.

If they were both exactly matching, for full volume you'd actually need a preamp that, well, amplifies. But here, it works fine for all occasions. All you need to do is watch DAC volume. You do not want it to shove 4V to the poweramp by accident, it'll blow your speakers.

 

[xanalog]

Would this be a bad comparison?

Although the top one lacks a front-panel volume indicator* and costs under $200USD, it has verified audio credentials per this ASR review
[*per its manual: 'The ZP3 supports a volume memory feature'... which stores and restores the volume setting for each of the 3 inputs, when the inputs are changed.]

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

Would this be a bad comparison?
View attachment 495799
Although the top one lacks a front-panel volume indicator* and costs under $200USD, it has verified audio credentials per this ASR review
[*per its manual: 'The ZP3 supports a volume memory feature'... which stores and restores the volume setting for each of the 3 inputs, when the inputs are changed.]

Lack of display with a rotary encoder is a no-go for me at least, even though it would have a volume memory. AP310 Pre has vol memo, not sure is it individual for each input since I have only used one.