View Full Version : Modern amp with linked pre out and power amp in ?
I'm wanting to add a Minidsp 2x4 processor into my setup to control and integrate a sub but it needs to go between pre and power amps. My current amp has pre outs but no power amp in sockets. I've hunted round online and the only amps I could find with removable bridging links between the pre and power sections were amps from the back end of the 20th century made by NAD. Does anyone know of any modern integrated amps that have this facility ?
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XTZ Class A1000D3 - from about 2012.
XTZ Class A1000D3 - from about 2012.
Thanks for that but a bit out of my price bracket.
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https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NAD-C326BEE-HI-Fi-SEPARATE-AMPLIFER-SUPERB/274451121789?hash=item3fe68fc67d:g:6msAAOSwhU5fLB6 g
Edit: Oh sorry, just saw NAD mentioned in your first post.
Audiolab 6000A, see page 8 https://www.audiolab.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/6000A-manual-416-1078010003R-180704-1.pdf
Great amp these, I like them anyway!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NAD-C326BEE-HI-Fi-SEPARATE-AMPLIFER-SUPERB/274451121789?hash=item3fe68fc67d:g:6msAAOSwhU5fLB6 g
Edit: Oh sorry, just saw NAD mentioned in your first post.
I'd probably have gone for one of those but the newer Version 2 no longer has the facility, shame because that's the sort of money I was thinking of paying.
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Audiolab 6000A, see page 8 https://www.audiolab.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/6000A-manual-416-1078010003R-180704-1.pdf
Great amp these, I like them anyway!
A friend of mine used to have one and liked it but changed to a Rega Brio, better sound but less facilities.
Mind you he said that the 6000A was better than the Cambridge CXA60 which is what I'm using at the moment.
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Filterlab
08-08-2020, 06:32
Quite a lot of the Arcam Diva range offer this. My Arcam A85 (not currently in use) has this facility, in fact before I acquired my Bel Canto Ref500s I used the A85 purely as a power amplifier. It is a very dynamic and crisp sounding amplifier, better than the A90 that followed it and one of What Hi-Fi's 19 best sounding amplifiers of all time (https://www.whathifi.com/features/best-19-stereo-amplifiers-what-hi-fis-lifetime).
It has a little switch that switches between integrated and pre/power. The power accepts an input from any variable line source, whilst the pre section can still be used entirely separately.
https://i.ibb.co/k9DjWCr/IMG-0924.jpg (https://ibb.co/HxP6k8M)
In your situation you would select the pre/power function and run the processor between the pre out and power in connections. Would work perfectly that.
walpurgis
08-08-2020, 06:51
Is there a reason why separate pre-amps and power amps can't be used?
Filterlab
08-08-2020, 07:11
Maybe box count? Or cost?
PaulBarnett
08-08-2020, 08:19
My very old Nytech ca252 has a pre-out/power in socket, and I've just found out that Nytech's current integrated, ca352, still has one - but at £2k, might be too much.
This might be obvious, but an amp with a 'tape monitor' switch will do what you want - via tape out/tape in sockets - 'monitor on' just internally disconnects them. My
dad had (an even older) Leak stereo 30 plus, that had this feature - from the 60s, when tape was popular, but probably quite rare today....
hifinutt
08-08-2020, 10:40
Quite a lot of the Arcam Diva range offer this. My Arcam A85 (not currently in use) has this facility, in fact before I acquired my Bel Canto Ref500s I used the A85 purely as a power amplifier. It is a very dynamic and crisp sounding amplifier, better than the A90 that followed it and one of What Hi-Fi's 19 best sounding amplifiers of all time (https://www.whathifi.com/features/best-19-stereo-amplifiers-what-hi-fis-lifetime).
It has a little switch that switches between integrated and pre/power. The power accepts an input from any variable line source, whilst the pre section can still be used entirely separately.
https://i.ibb.co/k9DjWCr/IMG-0924.jpg (https://ibb.co/HxP6k8M)
In your situation you would select the pre/power function and run the processor between the pre out and power in connections. Would work perfectly that.
yes great suggestion , been doing that , not as good of course as the ref 500s as a power amp !!!
hifinutt
08-08-2020, 10:51
not quite what the op is looking for but i do love the sub out feature on this bargain priced p6
https://www.hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/144122-for-sale-parasound-p6-preamp/
This might be obvious, but an amp with a 'tape monitor' switch will do what you want - via tape out/tape in sockets - 'monitor on' just internally disconnects them. My
dad had (an even older) Leak stereo 30 plus, that had this feature - from the 60s, when tape was popular, but probably quite rare today....
+1 to using tape monitor and the tape loop circuit - essentially as the loop is before the preamp section.
@paul, surely you mean connects them not disconnects them?
@steve, will you be applying room correction when using the minidsp or just the sub crossover?
[edit] after reflection this aint gonna work as there will be no attenuation for the sub. :o:confused: Sorry. As you were ...
Speccy4eyes
08-08-2020, 12:47
McIntosh MA5300 , I’ve got one and it has linked pre out and power amp in. Nicely built as well
PaulBarnett
08-08-2020, 15:49
+1 to using tape monitor and the tape loop circuit - essentially as the loop is before the preamp section.
@paul, surely you mean connects them not disconnects them?
@steve, will you be applying room correction when using the minidsp or just the sub crossover?
[edit] after reflection this aint gonna work as there will be no attenuation for the sub. :o:confused: Sorry. As you were ...
Maybe. what i think happens is
on - preamp is not conected to power amp - signal is intended to go from preamp to tape record head, to tape, read back off tape replay head, then back to power amp
- to allow monitoring of the signal off the tape as it is being recorded (with a small delay).
off - preamp is connected internally to poweramp.
And just though of this - volume control would normally be after tape out/tape in, (You would not want amp volume control to affect tape record level) so minidsp would see
constant full amplitude signal regardless of volume. This is probably what you want, I think.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rotel-RA-1570-Stereo-Integrated-Amplifier-Excellent-condition/114344220870?hash=item1a9f7258c6:g:ZjQAAOSwTRJfLYk V
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