I took a quick look here,truth is is a little confusing.The Pre90 has max 16dB gain and 17.7Vrms max output.
To get 10Vrms out of the Pre90, you have to input 1.7Vrms at max gain.
As I read your posts I am realizing I am getting lost in the technical aspects of gain, voltages and signal paths. Can you recommend me where to read a 101 guide on gain and the relation between preamps and amps?Seriously, those 'preamps' are hardly anything more than obscure products. Their sales would be insignificant and their installed base, even less significant. They are not, nor ever will be mainstream HiFi preamplifiers. Probably sold 10 thousand between all of them.
Let's get real. The standard input sensitivity for domestic HiFi power amplifiers has been 1.0-2.0V for 50 years. Even with balanced, you can double that on a bad day. So 2.0-4.0V. Anything else it utterly stupid.
Yes, I have preamps that will output 30V RMS, but they are outliers and their rated output is 1.5V.
12dB is a joke. Nobody takes that seriously. Power amplifiers are ~26-29dB. Even Amir tweaks his integrated levels to be somewhere near that.
And what about the A90 or the L70?The Pre90 has max 16dB gain and 17.7Vrms max output.
To get 10Vrms out of the Pre90, you have to input 1.7Vrms at max gain.
But here, we are rather in the world of toys. Combined with smallest speakers. Computer or phone audio desktop systems.Seriously, those 'preamps' are hardly anything more than obscure products. Their sales would be insignificant and their installed base, even less significant. They are not, nor ever will be mainstream HiFi preamplifiers. Probably sold 10 thousand between all of them.
Let's get real. The standard input sensitivity for domestic HiFi power amplifiers has been 1.0-2.0V for 50 years. Even with balanced, you can double that on a bad day. So 2.0-4.0V. Anything else it utterly stupid.
Yes, I have preamps that will output 30V RMS, but they are outliers and their rated output is 1.5V.
12dB is a joke. Nobody takes that seriously. Power amplifiers are ~26-29dB. Even Amir tweaks his integrated levels to be somewhere near that.
Set the 3 jumpers in a "opposite way" to the current pos. - jumping mid pos. and "inner" pos. ... oopss.. 4 jumpers, sorry......I just didn't have the info to do it just yet. Will update the review when I get that info.
This is not explicitly Hypex and is my doing as do not trust a series of screws to ensure a solid chassis ground.I wonder why the XLR body is "grounded" this way??
I think the choice for low power amp gain makes sense, given that good DACs tend to have slightly better numbers than the best power amps. So it makes sense to make the DAC stage work a bit hard
I am asking for numbers, not for speculations.I think the choice for low power amp gain makes sense, given that good DACs tend to have slightly better numbers than the best power amps. So it makes sense to make the DAC stage work a bit harder.
I too, wondered how it would measure with the buffer.Thanks again for this interesting product's review!
Nice to see such good and powerful amp.
Stupid question:
I guess the noise performance is partly due to very low gain.
So, probably, with the buffer, noise will be higher.
But can the buffer help with the distortion ?
I doubt so, but a quick comparison at same output power would give us a clue.
Also:
I read 116dB SNR, so rather 20dB margin, if I'm not mistaken ?
You are right we should not discuss how and what we measure anymore only give simple good numbers someone can use for advertising.If it had been measured with the buffer, there would have been people asking, "But how does it measure without the buffer?"
Commercial implementations will (I believe inevitably) arise with different buffers, if for no other reason than advertising copy. This review gives us an unadulterated picture of the intrinsic capabilities of the amp, with no regards to buffer choice.
To measure both ways would have been a greater load on @amirm with little benefit.
Jim
Preamps are a very small part of the market. Same for pro-audio DACs. 99,9% of people will use a power amplifier with something that puts out 2 or 4V. I'd even argue that more people will drive these amps with a source that doesn't even reach 2V than one that goes to 10V.I do. Many, many preamps can output (way) more than 10Vrms. As may some DACs: Benchmark DAC3, RME ADI-2 PRO, Matrix Element X2...
I don't know. I think it does not really make much sense to combine a superb amplifier like this with anything other than a similarly superb DAC/preamp.Preamps are a very small part of the market. Same for pro-audio DACs.