Impedance Matching Preamp/Amp Assiance Pls?


I'm looking to purchase a Cary SLP-05 that has an input impedance of 100k Ohms (XLR) and a gain of 27db. My Spectron MK2 has an input impedance of 50k Ohms using the XLR inputs (which I use).

What is the consequence of using the Cary with the Spectron regarding its compatiblity relative to the impedance and gain specs? Any issues I should be aware of?

Thanks in advance for your comments.
nick778
Nick,

I think what matters is the output impedance, which is 400 ohms for the Cary SLP-05. Given the Spectron's 50K input impedance, you should be fine. The rule is 10:1.
Thanks. Can you explain the 10:1 rule? 10 X 400=4000 ohms and the input impedance of the Spectron it 50,000 phms. So I'm not sure I understand why everything is ok.

Also, can you provide me an example where impedances don't match well and the consequences?

Thanks again.
Nick , the rule means that the input impedance of the amp should be 'at least' ten times greater than the output impedance of the preamp . More is fine .

Happy tunes .
All of the preceding responses are correct. A theoretically ideal audio amplifier or preamplifier will have zero output impedance and infinite input impedance. That is obviously not practical for many reasons. The numbers cited above (several hundred ohms output impedance, or perhaps even one or two thousand ohms output impedance, and 50K or 100K input impedance) are typical for preamp inputs and outputs and power amp inputs, and are completely compatible.

Power amp output impedances have to be far lower (a fraction of an ohm) in order to drive speaker impedances, which are usually less than 8 ohms.

If an output impedance is not much lower than the input impedance of the device it is driving, a consequence is that a fraction of the voltage put out by the driving device will be wasted across its own output impedance, instead of appearing across the load device. The fraction lost would equal the output impedance of the driving device divided by the sum of that output impedance and the input impedance of the driven (load) device.

That assumes that stray capacitances and inductances in the circuit are negligible. That is not always the case, and if it is not the situation can be much worse. If interconnect cable capacitance or inductance, or the input capacitance of the load device, are significant, and the driving device's output impedance is too high, than the loss across that output impedance will be frequency dependent, which will cause the system's overall frequency response to be non-flat.

All of this applies only to audio frequency devices. At radio frequencies (such as antenna inputs to FM tuners, or high speed digital signals) completely different considerations apply, which usually require source, cable, and load impedances to be matched. Different considerations can also apply in certain specific situations involving audio frequencies, such as differential balanced outputs of professional microphones, which are often specified to work into load impedances that essentially match their output impedances.

Regards,
-- Al
All the above, are typical answers. Check the archives for some different points of view.