Marantz SA8260 Direct to Amp

The closest you could come is with a passive unit. Don't try it otherwise as you're likely going to blow some speakers.

Warnerwh - could you elaborate more on blowing speakers when using a passive pre? In the past, I've used a passive (Placette RVC) without incident.

The 8260 doesn't have volume control. I was planning on buying an in-line attenuator. Also, here was my thinking on the situation: I have about $1,400 to spend on amplification. I thought that since I don't need to switch sources (I'm single sourced) or want balance or tone control...every dollar I spend on a preamp would be a dollar less to spend on my amp. However, now it sounds like if I do commit my entire budget on an amp the overall sound would be compromised. True?

i am not a big fan of passive.... it does offer a clean listening window, however there has always been a midbass and bass suckout (foundation of music).

if you have $1400 to spend for pre / amp. would suggest the following:

amps -
muse 160 II or pse studio v mono blocks (muse is a little easier going while the pse is very dynamic. both were $3000 amps when introduced and are still very, very good. it took a pair of classe cam mono 350 to displace the pse studio v's in my system. pse v monos go for $450-$550 and the muse 160 ii goes for $650 - $750

preamp - bat vk3...incredible build quality and sound for the money..can add phono, remote, cap upgrade later if you wish..goes for $750-$850.. the only drawback to this unit is finding nos 6922's...

if you want solid state then a ar ls-12. it was their last solid state piece and in very uderrated (very long break in period- 6 months).. it is totally neutral and transparent...you dont realize it till you actually compare it to a passive unit..goes for $800-$900... add the cap for 6db upgrade if you are running single ended source ($65)...

audible illusions L1 - magical with the pse v mono blocks..great combo..used 6922 tube but less of them..really musical unit that has a little coloration in the nicest way... works well with the pse v monos and the 8260 (i have personally used the L1,8260, and pse v's- awesome combo)

hope that helps,

mike

from what ive heard in my rigs running passive preamps & running amps with gain controls direct to a cd player i didnt care for it at all,i read alot of stuff where guys really liked listening that way so i tried it a few times with very poor results,maybee my rigs were mismatched,who knows but the result was dull & lifeless music that reminded me of a AM stereo radio station.

running a rig this way for the sake of a shorter signal path opens up other problem areas like having your system perfectly matched & leads to more cash being spent on cables,speaker wires & other tweaks trying to get it right.

you still cant go wrong spending your entire budget on an amplifier,if you dont care for the sound you can always add a preamp when cash flow allows,just remember when your looking for your new amp to pick an amp that has gain controls & you can use them as your volume control with no chance of damage to any equipment.

good luck,mike.