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Pre amplifier into an integrated amplifier?

mistigris

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I dug my old 8ohm Polk bookshelf speakers out of my closet and thought about getting a cheap-ish power amp so that I can hook them up to my Schiit Jotunheim, which I am currently using as a headphone amp. This is for a small room, and I'm not planning on cranking the volume, so I wasn't looking for a lot of power: probably 20wpc would be more than enough. I am looking to spend less than $200. I didn't find many power amps in this range, but quite a few integrated amps.

I did like the Allo Volt+ D, though I wasn't sure if that was a power amp or integrated amp (my noob mind was assuming it was an integrated amp since it has volume control). I'm not sure that it matters a whole lot as long as I don't crank up the volume too much on the pre amp. So...is it ok to go from a pre amp to an integrated amp? Would this setup work?

Thanks!
 

DVDdoug

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I did like the Allo Volt+ D, though I wasn't sure if that was a power amp or integrated amp (my noob mind was assuming it was an integrated amp since it has volume control).
An integrated amp (or a "regular" preamp) has multiple inputs and it usually has tone controls and multiple other controls.

Many power amps often have a volume (or "gain") control, but usually the "intention" is a set-and-forget control rather than an everyday volume control.

For an inexpensive power amplifier try Parts Express. I have something similar to this (lower power, I think) in my bedroom, hooked-up to a cable box for listening to TV news (I don't have, or want, video in the bedroom).
 

Helicopter

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I dug my old 8ohm Polk bookshelf speakers out of my closet and thought about getting a cheap-ish power amp so that I can hook them up to my Schiit Jotunheim, which I am currently using as a headphone amp. This is for a small room, and I'm not planning on cranking the volume, so I wasn't looking for a lot of power: probably 20wpc would be more than enough. I am looking to spend less than $200. I didn't find many power amps in this range, but quite a few integrated amps.

I did like the Allo Volt+ D, though I wasn't sure if that was a power amp or integrated amp (my noob mind was assuming it was an integrated amp since it has volume control). I'm not sure that it matters a whole lot as long as I don't crank up the volume too much on the pre amp. So...is it ok to go from a pre amp to an integrated amp? Would this setup work?

Thanks!
It is fine to use a pre amp with an integrated amp, just redundant. The integrated amp will see the pre amp as a source.
 

JSmith

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from a pre amp to an integrated amp?
Why though?

An integrated is called that because it is an inbuilt pre basically, with either or both analogue and digital inputs, volume, sometimes bass/treble controls, phono stage etc.

For example;

1631589591705.png

1631589601937.png




JSmith
 

Chazz6

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I fed the output from a tube preamp into an integrated solid state amp. It worked, and it sounded different - and preferable to my ear. ... But I liked the sound so much that I set both items aside and got a Quicksilver Integrated tube amplifier - even better to my ear.
 

Chazz6

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Does a tube circuit "distort" the signal in ways that an EQ bank of sliders cannot duplicate? That seems to be a key question in the debate over accurate versus pleasing.
 

JSmith

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Does a tube circuit "distort" the signal in ways that an EQ bank of sliders cannot duplicate?
Tubes don't need to distort anything if done properly and not run at clipping levels. Any distortion added by a tube pre or amp can be easily replicated.



JSmith
 
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mistigris

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Thanks for all the replies. Good to hear that it'll work, and it's nice that there are more power amps out there that will fit my needs.

For an inexpensive power amplifier try Parts Express. I have something similar to this (lower power, I think) in my bedroom, hooked-up to a cable box for listening to TV news (I don't have, or want, video in the bedroom).
Thanks for this. I'll look into that Lepai LP-2020TI, and others on the website.

Why though?
Why I would do this is partly for space (I don't have that much real estate available, hence I didn't want a large integrated amp like the Denon), partly because I wasn't finding many small power amps (small both in power and in physical size), and I already have sources set up on the Jotunheim.
 
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mistigris

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You were having trouble finding a small power amp? There's a whole bunch of compact Class D jobs of varying quality out there, based on ICs like TPA3116, TPA3118 or TDA7498. The challenge is finding one with actually decent construction and parts quality.
Knowing what I know now, and looking through some of the measurements, I completely agree.
 
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