Hi Guido, very interesting your comment regarding the gain switch in the new REF600M.
As far as I know, the gain setting has more to do with the preamplifier stage than with the speaker load.
It sets how sensitive the amplifier will be, meaning how much voltage it will need at its input to obtain its rated power.
So, if you have a strong enough preamplifier, you can lower the amplifier gain and still be able to reach the device rate power, independently of which speaker you have connected.
The big advantage is that with lower gain settings, you maximize the signal to noise ratio.
I would like an even lower gain setting, as many new DACs have quite strong output capabilities nowadays. The new Benchmark AHB2 has three gain options, for example, with the lowest being 13 dB.
I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that for the REF600M the gain option depends on the Hypex module, so there's not much John can do in that respect.
Rgds,
Sebastian
As far as I know, the gain setting has more to do with the preamplifier stage than with the speaker load.
It sets how sensitive the amplifier will be, meaning how much voltage it will need at its input to obtain its rated power.
So, if you have a strong enough preamplifier, you can lower the amplifier gain and still be able to reach the device rate power, independently of which speaker you have connected.
The big advantage is that with lower gain settings, you maximize the signal to noise ratio.
I would like an even lower gain setting, as many new DACs have quite strong output capabilities nowadays. The new Benchmark AHB2 has three gain options, for example, with the lowest being 13 dB.
I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that for the REF600M the gain option depends on the Hypex module, so there's not much John can do in that respect.
Rgds,
Sebastian