cliveb;219861 Wrote: > Since you mention plugging straight into the *preamp*, does that mean > you have a separate power amp? If you do, then another option to > consider is to plug the SB3 analogue output directly into the power > amp, and use the SB3's volume control. Preamps are usually the least > neutral electronic component in a system, and it's often worth > eliminating them if you can. Unless your preamp is seriously > state-of-the-art, I'd wager that SB3->power amp will sound better than > CD player->preamp->power amp.
I do have a separate preamp and power amp. Plugging the SB3 directly into the amp sounds like it would make for pretty cool and simple "one source" music solution, but unfortunately I have a couple other sources and my amp has only one set of inputs. Thus I need the preamp just for the switching capability. And I guess my original question was kinda silly - of course the Cambridge should sound better head to head (with no external DACs involved). It's a "bargain" cd player that still costs twice as much as the SB3 and only does one thing - play CD's. It probably weighs five times as much, has a vastly better power supply, superior DAC's (two of them!) and so on and so forth. Still, I wonder if I put them head to head in a blind listening test, would the difference matter to me or even be apparent? If I ever do that I'll be sure to post about it. -- Pinball Wizard ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pinball Wizard's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=12701 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=37447 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
