Apparently not
Gain is a whole different can of worms!
No pre-amp in the chain - Streamer to Power Amp direct?
- Thread starter chander
- Start date
Gain is a whole different can of worms!I used my rethm bhaava, without a preamp for a while, allo digione as a source and digital volume control. At least a couple of times volume reset to maximum and there was very loud sound out of the speakers, almost had a heart attack, thankfully no damage was done. So you have to very careful while doing so, you could probably pick up a cheap preamp from somewhere.
This made things very very clear - https://ledgernote.com/columns/studio-recording/gain-vs-volume/
one last question to @jls001 and @arj -
The following are the specs for 2 power amps -
Now going by the specs - as the gain is 29db does this mean that Emotiva A300 will be a great match for the AL 6000A - purely from the point of view to understand the Specsheet. Not talking about he sound signature here at all.
What makes the AL8300XP so much more expensive? They are both A/B - similar power too.
The following are the specs for 2 power amps -
| Details | Emotiva A300 | Audilab 8300XP |
| Power Output | 150 watts RMS per channel; 20 Hz – 20 kHz; THD < 0.1%; into 8 Ohms. 300 watts RMS per channel; 1 kHz; THD < 1%; into 4 Ohms. | 140 W RMS (8Ohms <1%THD, 1KHZ stereo) 140 W RMS (8Ohms <1%THD, 1KHZ stereo) |
| Gain | 29 DB | 29 Db @1KHZ Stereo |
| Input Sensitivity | 1.2V | 1100mv |
| Input Imepdance | 27 Kohms | 15K (balanced) 10K (Unbalanced) |
| THD | <0.02% | 0.004% |
| Price | 65K | 1.8L |
Now going by the specs - as the gain is 29db does this mean that Emotiva A300 will be a great match for the AL 6000A - purely from the point of view to understand the Specsheet. Not talking about he sound signature here at all.
What makes the AL8300XP so much more expensive? They are both A/B - similar power too.
Looks like they will match in terms of drivability ie both can drive it loud.. but other than that how good it sounds would be unmeasurable since that would depend mostly on on your speaker and room.
From what I heard the classical behaviour of a good amp is it doubles it power when the impedance becomes half. May not be relevant for you as most home speakers will not need more than 50 W
The input impedances will define on how they load a preamp.. maybe the emotiva will work better with a Passive pre but I know very little about that.
From what I heard the classical behaviour of a good amp is it doubles it power when the impedance becomes half. May not be relevant for you as most home speakers will not need more than 50 W
The input impedances will define on how they load a preamp.. maybe the emotiva will work better with a Passive pre but I know very little about that.
@chander
I'm not familiar with AL 6000A so I'm assuming it is a preamp with X dB gain. If so, the 29 dB gain of both power amps is more than sufficient to drive most speakers >86-87 dB sensitivity to full volume. My speakers are 86.x dB, and I used to drive it with a buffer of 0 dB gain, driving a power amp of 27 dB gain. So the gain in my chain was only 27 dB. Your's is X + 29 dB. X is probably 6, or higher. So 35-ish dB. I think THX recommends 37 dB of system gain but in practice even 10 dB lesser works.
Addendum: what is probably more important when trying to match a preamp to a power amp is the output impedance of the preamp (which must be ideally as low as possible) and the input impedance of the power amp (which ideally should be as high as possible). (Power amp input impedance)/(preamp output impedance) ratio should be at least 10. Higher is better.
I'm not familiar with AL 6000A so I'm assuming it is a preamp with X dB gain. If so, the 29 dB gain of both power amps is more than sufficient to drive most speakers >86-87 dB sensitivity to full volume. My speakers are 86.x dB, and I used to drive it with a buffer of 0 dB gain, driving a power amp of 27 dB gain. So the gain in my chain was only 27 dB. Your's is X + 29 dB. X is probably 6, or higher. So 35-ish dB. I think THX recommends 37 dB of system gain but in practice even 10 dB lesser works.
Addendum: what is probably more important when trying to match a preamp to a power amp is the output impedance of the preamp (which must be ideally as low as possible) and the input impedance of the power amp (which ideally should be as high as possible). (Power amp input impedance)/(preamp output impedance) ratio should be at least 10. Higher is better.
Last edited:
chiraghbir
Active Member
i agree but you can manage without a pre amp till you have funds to buy a nice one .. bass and treble can be adjusted on 2iApparently not
Do consider the Indiq Saptak over the Emotiva a300. It would cost you about 30k more but in exchange you will get an class AB dual monoblock power amp which is rated at 200 +watts @ 8 ohms, I preferred the Saptak over the Emotiva XPA-2 which seemed to have a brighter signature whereas saptak is more neutral.
Thanks Flux, never heard the INDIQ offerings, but I have seen how many here love it. That's always a good sign. Will speak with them and check what do they think about pairing with AL6000a.
Good part is they offer a 15-day return window , where you will get full refund of the amount you paid for.
I too was not sure initially, was contemplating going for Emotiva XPA-2 or Parasound A21 used but then XPA-2 was bright and would not work well with Focals & Parasound A21 had to go on used route hence was little skeptical. After having a word with Amit & fellow FM Prodigy I went for one, was thoroughly impressed with it right out of the box too (they run it in for about 10-15 hours from what i know). Considering this & the gentleman of a person Amit is , I would say I have become a Word of Mouth propagator of the brand with no second thoughts in recommending them to others
Thanks @fLUX I am evaluating the Gold Saptak, as it has got plenty of power and no point making a complicated chain by adding the AL to the Power. Though just out of curiosity any suggestions for Pre matching if one goes for Platinum Saptak?
**Spoke to Amit, he is a great guy, extremely upfront and genuinely curious, no wonder he is liked so much.
**Spoke to Amit, he is a great guy, extremely upfront and genuinely curious, no wonder he is liked so much.
I have a Schiit Saga+ & a DIY Nelson Pass design ACP as my preamps , both pair really well with Saptak. Have tried Marantz 8006 also as a preamp which I found to be ok in comparison to the Schiit Saga+.
chiraghbir
Active Member
why don't you buy integrated amplifier and use it with Node 2i and make your life simple hehehe ??
Hey! I would still recommend your to go with Platinum. I have personally tried different pre amps with Saptak. Both SS and Tube and it pairs very well. Infact you can even run it directly from a DAC or even your phone using the 3.5mm to RCA converter.
I have paired with a Pass Labs Pre-Amp, Lyrita DHT Tube Pre, Yamaha Wxc 50, Marantz PM7001, Bravo Mini Tube HP Amp and some others which now I don’t recall. I would say this power amp pairs very well with any source and you will definitely enjoy.
I have heard both Gold Saptak as well as Platinum. Both are good in its own way but given the choice & budget I am all in for Platinum Saptak. They are too good i say.
Regards,
Som
Thanks the advice has been taken! I spoke to Amit and he was very sure that the amp can run directly through the Node 2i, apparently someone here on this forum did that as an audition. That solves my immediate requirement, I am very happy with the idea and as it is an extremely powerful amplifier, I am hoping this will serve me for years to come.
I have become a big fan of quad sound in the past few years, though S1 is the first speaker I ever bought, I have heard Quads a lot amongst friends and family. Sadly my quads are 84Db. I love playing music at low volumes while working and that with the AL6000a (another thing I absolutely love, a beautiful sounding amp), is kind of not possible with this kind of sensitivity. I have to pump it up by quite a bit and as I have extremely sensitive ears, I have to take a break every couple hours. I do not have this issue at all with my QAs as they can be beautiful at low volumes too. The aim was a hope that maybe the copious amounts of power might help with the low volume dynamics.
I hope my assumption is correct, more power, low volumes, better sound? Right?
Try quad vena with quad s1. They would match very well soundwise and aesthetically.
In my opinion, good amps have less noise and lower output impedance. How that can affect the sound is very subjective. More power definitely helps in large listening space or with low efficiency speakers. A powerful amp can definitely avoid clipping, which can damage out speakers. Quality low volume sound is more the function of the speaker than anything else. Some speakers do not really open up until they reach certain amount of volume irrespective of the amp being used but since Saptak is tuned very well I don’t see a reason why it should not pair well. Again this is something an amp designer can answer in depth and since Amit is a designer himself, he would be well qualified to answer your question on how well his amp can drive the quads. Knowing him so far, I can say he is not someone who is out there to sell anything and everything, but to give that utmost level of satisfaction to customers for the products they buy from him. So you are in good hands.
Regards,
Som
Last edited:
If this is your beef, beg/borrow/steal any ifi product with their x-bas function and see if it works for the intended purpose. There is a possibility you might call off your search.
I am using both the Marantz 7010's internal amplification of 120 W per channel and the Crowns at 450 W per channel with the Quad S2's. Although the Crown through the Marantz pre drives the Quads effortlessly, it still does not turn the S2's into floorstanders. For low volume listening, I have found my Zen Dac > FX-Audio tube pre -> Crown much better, settings on both the DAC and the Preamp in flat.
Last edited:
Order now for just ₹19,990.00
Similar threads
