2. amps-preamps
  3. 125908-371

Active and passive preamp in one chain ?

As I just discovered, my Redgum integrated amp has a passive preamp in it. No wonder, I don't have enough gain and consequencially not enough weight in sound when playing records. A lot of transparency though. To compensate I currently run phono/cassette deck/ Redgum at the silght expense of resolution.
How would it be if I added, say, some tube active preamp? No, not ready to go fully separates at the moment. Running MM cartridge and phono gain setting is fixed at 46db, I think. In other words, replacing deck as a sort of an active preamp with a true active preamp.
inna
xrayz
78 posts
 
The only input impedance I can find for your amp is 10K ohms. That's pretty low and it will cut down on your choices for a preamp. Also, if the amp section is designed for a passive pre, the voltage output of an active pre could very well overload the amp. I would write to Redgum and see what they have to say.
erik_squires
5,268 posts
 
Inna,

That's not necessarily a terrible thing. You have gain, but it's in the amplifier. Having a single gain stage is usually a very good thing, less distortion, less noise, less parts to optimize. This is by no means a weird situation.

Having said that, depending on the input impedance, yada yada, it may be optimum to have a buffer BEFORE the volume control, ensuring the apparent input impedance is volume independent.


Now, whether it sounds good to you or not.... That's another story entirely.

inna OP
5,245 posts
 
I see. So what kind of active preamp do you think would work? I am not technical, don't really understand this stuff. To write to Redgum is a good idea unless they get upset by the fact that I think that there is not enough overall gain in the integrated.
Not that I have a big problem with the curent phono/deck/Redgum set-up, except that I do lose some resolution. Otherwise the amp is quite good. And I do make recordings from records onto tape from time to time. I just thought that something inexpensive but reasonably good, something like Rogue, might temporarily make things better until I am ready to overhaul the entire signal chain.
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