To Preamp or not to Preamp, that is my q

Hello There!
Thought I'd give you my thoughts since I am i n a similar situation. I have a Levinson 39 going directly in to my Conrad Johnson Premier 11A. Simple, Elegant, sounds great.
The real issue lies in where the volume attenuation occurs in your CD player. In the 39 it takes place in the analogue
domain , not in the digital domain. Based on my limited research, this was critical to not losing resolution/quality
etc etc and I believe the product literature on the 39 did a good job of explaining how and why. I think its available on levinsons' web site.

By adding a preamp with no other swithching needs all you are accomplishing is another means of adjusting the volume while adding two more links to the playback chain, preamp and interconnects.Though I am not a big believer in all the babble surrounding interconnects which seems completely unverifiable, unless YOU can actually hear the difference, I do believe a system is only as goood as the weakest link in the chain, which follows the same reasoning that simpler is better. With this in mind I would think that ifyou are planning on remaining a one source input kind of guy, your preamp dollars would be better spent on improving either your amplifier or speakers or both. This assumes your unit's volume control works within the analog domain and is not compromising quality with a digital volume control.

I've got almost 18 grand in my system and I auditioned a Linn Classic all in one cd amp with a pair of small revel monitors at 2000 a pair and I'd swear it got 95%
of the performance of my system for 20% of the price. Bottom Line is, if you like what you have who cares what the people with more money than brains have? I wanted a Premier 14 preamp because of all the great reviews etc etc but anytime I asked myself what I was getting for 3-4000$ the only answer I came up with was another box. What would improve my system would be more power for the signature 30's. Good Luck and Good Listening!

Rob

Thanks for your input guys. I now have a few more questions...

Genesis168:
Why is it preferable to have a lower output impedence interfacing the amp?

Tom Nice:
I'm a little unclear on what it is you are saying - partly, no doubt, because I don't know what you mean by passive/active preamps...

Robicek
How do I tell if my volume control is digital or analog? I assume it's analog since it's an actual knob on the front of the player which controls both headphone jack and the variable output jacks on the back. Also, it's not controlable via the remote.

Thanks,

Hin Levinson 39 has a preamp section built in it. That's OK to connect to a power amp. 99% of other CD players like the Denon used here does not have one built in.

To use a regular CDP as a drive for power amps are not appropriate. Sometimes getting a passive will do a great job but not always as some interconnects have higher capacitance values therefore cable matching is sometimes a problem without a preamp or with a passive.

Lower output impedence a preamp produces makes driving a cable easier therefore you will not suffer uneven frequency response. Sometimes w/ a passive, you will get rolled off highs and low frequency if the interconnect mismatch.

Well, as others have said, there is no right or wrong. If you think your system sounds great, then that be it. Save the money and buy yourself more music to enjoy.

Cheers!

i have to agree with everyones statements. i tried a cal 15 direct to several amps (ss and tube). it sounded better with a pre. cal has a digital gain. i have also tried direct with my birdland dac that is analog gain and the pre sounds better to me. robieck is correct....if you like the sound. that is all that counts. i personally like the quality that an active pre provides to the music. it works for me. have a dealer lend you a pre or by a used one from audiogon at your price point. lots of old great units for any budget.

One other consideration beside output Z (impedance) of the Dennon CDP is the drive level capability. If it's capable of driving the PA to full output power then I probably wouldn't use a preamp in your situation. Compare the Dennon's max. output voltage spec. to the Parasound's input sensitivity spec. to determine compatibility. Impedance-wise the Dennon's output Z should be <1/10th the Parasound's input Z to avoid possible interconnect frequency response abberations (this expanding upon Gen's post). Likewise if you do use a preamp then its' output Z should be <1/10th the Parasound's input Z, and the Dennon's output Z should also be <1/10th the preamp's input Z.
Cable-wise the philosophy of many 'philes is to maintain equal or better interconnect quality from CD to pre, & pre to P.A. I follow that approach myself, so I use the same type interconnects for both paths.
Also, regarding use of a preamp, some users have experienced better dynamic drive from an active pre than from a passive, but at the expense of some transparency. Bear that fact in mind if/when you decide to experiment with an additional stage, because an active pre may or may not enhance dynamics over your present direct-drive approach. An active pre with a detachable AC cord also permits the flexibility of experimenting with different upgrade AC cords, if you desire to try that approach regarding tonality issues. Of course if the CDP has a detachable cord, that's yet another option in that regard.