While it is a natural curiosity to mix and match gear as we all like to do, every once in a while you come across combo's that just don't gel well together per say. Some of it may very well be technical, other explanation is more subjective taste.
As for our example of Reference 6 and C47 and say MC501 monoblocks. The MC501's voltage gain is not high. It needs over 2 volts to reach maximum output. The Reference 6 starts to clip at 2.7V balanced. Ok, perhaps not terrible but it is too close imho.
The C-47 has 100/200 ohms SE and balanced output impedance. The Reference 6 output impedance in balanced reaches 1378 ohms at 20khz. That's quite a difference. Reference 6 should be paired with an amp with at least 10k ohm input impedance (which the MC501 for example has but other amps may not be)
Let the manufacturers figure out how to pair their preamps and amps properly which is what they do. We can experiment of course but don't be surprised when the result is less than optimal.
Last edited by PHC1; 10-24-2017 at 08:16 AM.
|