duke43j;426731 Wrote: > Hi iPhone. My VTL 2.5 preamp has quite a bit of noise through my > speakers. The noise is quite audible from 9 ft away during quiet > passages (not noticeable during moderate or loud passages). New tubes > solve the problem for a month or two, but they eventually get noisy > also. The preamp is also connected to my surround processor, so it is > turned on quite a bit of the time. I like its smooth sound, but it does > roll off a bit on the high end. When I connected my Benchmark DAC > directly to my amp the noise went away (which I expected), but also the > highs were more extended and the bass was quicker. Always looking for a > way to improve things, I started looking into preamps when I discovered > the idea of passive preamps. As I've said above, they sound good on > paper (no active components to introduce noise or distortion), but the > casual comments I've read on the web lead me to believe they are tricky > to integrate into a system. I really don't want to make it a career to > continuously fiddle with the system to get it to sound right. On the > other hand, if I only need to be careful about using an amp with a high > input impedance (mine is 100K), I'd still be interested in them.
I am kind of thinking what Phil is that your VTL Pre-amp has a major problem that needs repaired. I would also see if the dealer will let you borrow a higher model VTL that has Balanced XLR connectors. That alone should be a huge improvement. Really two routes to go here in my mind from what I think your driving at. Either go dedicated stereo music listening only and use the SB3 as the volume device with fixed attenuators (or upgrade to a Transporter) or move up the line as far as active pre-amps go. The VTL 6.5 has Balanced XLRs and Home Theater Bypass and there are other good pre-amps with XLRs and Bypass as well (but I'm a tube pre-amp guy). The Ayre Pre-amps would really sound great with what you currently have. I have used passives in the past and tried them recently, some good some bad. The biggest thing I have seen is that it takes big bucks to do one right that has multiple sources. Which always leads me back to the KISS principle, Squeezebox Source (SB3 or Transporter), high quality fixed attenuators, amp, and lastly speakers. When I really want to go native, I run the Transporter straight into the Ayre Mono-Blocks and it is truly amazing how the Vandersteens sound with only Source, Amp, and themselves. If I didn't watch a movie almost daily, I would probably leave it that way. -- iPhone *iPhone* Media Room: Transporter, VTL TL-6.5 Signature Pre-Amp, Ayre MX-R Mono's, Vandersteen Quatro, VeraStarr 6.4SE 6-channel Amp, VCC-5 Reference Center, four VSM-1 Signatures, Runco RS 900 CineWide AutoScope 2.35:1 Living Room: Duet, ADCOM GTP-870HD, Cinepro 3K6SE III Gold, Vandersteen Model 3A Signature, Two 2Wq subs, VCC-2, Two VSM-1 Kitchen: Squeezebox BOOM Bedroom: SB3, GFR-700HD, Thiel 2.3, Second Boom Home Office: SB3, NAD C370, two VSM-1 Home Gym: SB3, Parasound Vamp v.3, Thiel PowerPoint 1.2 House Portable: SB3, Audioengine A5 Thunderbird: Duet, Mac Mini Expedition: SB3, ToughBook ------------------------------------------------------------------------ iPhone's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=13622 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=63739 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
