Which is more of a factor in sound quality

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by PHC1

The proper way to approach this is to give some thought as to what amplifier would be a good match for your speakers. Will the amplifier meet the demands of the speaker and if so, will the synergy be a favorable one?


Good luck with your quest.

I agree with Serge. You need amp(s) that get the most out of your speakers.

[njcardave]

Originally Posted by njcardave

The most important link in the chain is room acoustics. Try adding some sound panels at primary and secondary reflection points and some corner bass traps. Later add some diffusor panels. You will definitely think that you have purchased a whole new system. Spending money without treating the sound space is not a good idea. 🎶🎶🎶

Room acoustics 🎶🎶🎶

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by njcardave

Room acoustics 🎶🎶🎶

That goes without saying. Optimally they should already be in place when serious auditioning and hunt for the long term gear begins. Otherwise much is lost to a bad sounding room and subtle but important differences in gear and especially cables very well could be masked by bad acoustics.

[miatadan]

Originally Posted by PHC1

That goes without saying. Optimally they should already be in place when serious auditioning and hunt for the long term gear begins. Otherwise much is lost to a bad sounding room and subtle but important differences in gear and especially cables very well could be masked by bad acoustics.

My room has been very good for sound, even $400 bookshelf speakers sounds great.

[djwhog]

I found going from an Old McIntosh C39 preamp to the MX150, and then a few years later a C500t rig... even with all the amps, K03 etc, speakers etc.

It was my preamp in my gear that was the largest single improvement in sound, then everyone else in the rack is better as a benefit from the preamp.

my 2cents

[62caddy]

Originally Posted by miatadan

Will be starting fresh with new stereo system...

What would make more of a difference in sound too system... more expensive preamplifier or more expensive power amplifier?

choice number one - McIntosh C1100 preamplifier + MC302 power amplifier
or

McIntosh C2600 preamplifier + McIntosh MC462 power amplifier

Among those options, the difference is going to be negligible, IMHO, except for the fact of the latter having an extra ~ 2 dB of headroom.

If extra output is called for that is unavailable from the smaller amplifier, this will have far greater bearing on performance than the difference between those two preamplifiers is likely to exhibit.

[robinmtns]

I think its a fairly well-founded principle that the further up the chain you make an improvement the more significant the change in sound quality.

I am an incorrigible modder. Always trying something to get that last percent of improvement by changing caps, resistors, tubes, wires--whatever. In my last go round when I got the improvement bug I found myself spending about 75% of my time analyzing and tweaking my tube DAC and 25% on everything else. I'm convinced I got the greatest amount of improvment to system sound from the work just on the output side of that DAC and a little bit on its power supply.

Of course this is not my brainstorm. Probably anyone whose played around with building or modding audio recognizes that any improvement that you do upstream will be carried through and magnified by the rest of the chain. Also holds true for inside each component. You can usually get your best bang for buck by looking to improve things early in the signal path of an amp or preamp, for instance.

But yeah, definitely the Preamp!

[70sMac]

We use a MAC4200 into an MC300 into a couple of B&W 802s, so I can't really add much to this thread ... but it's a great thread, nevertheless.

[sgbroimp]

Preamp makes bigger difference, back in the analog day and still the same today. Of course you can't have any clunkers anywhere in the chain like a lousy amp or cheesy speakers, but all things being equal the preamp will be the cutting edge.

[MrG]

My long time rule of thumb is to place a higher priority on the part of the signal chain where the signal is smallest and most vulnerable. In this case I clearly fall into the pre amp side of the discussion.
G