Anyone willing to help? Need dual pre-outs to my Don A. Pre

[dkalsi]

He is also a great speaker builder. We'll have to work on him to show his skills at future CAPFESTs. Jim

You give me too much credit Jim

All,

See pictures below:

[FerdinandII]

Looks like a pretty standard grounded cathode stage feeding cathode follower (both 6BQ7) output with a 2.2uF coupling cap on the output. I can't imagine the output stage using the anode to drive a 2.2uF capacitor..... This guy (Don A.) was not into any wild and crazy circuit topologies, AFAIK.

Last edited by FerdinandII on August 7th, 2015, 3:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[dkalsi]

So.....can it be done (without adversely impacting the sound from current main pre-outs to my main amp: Plinius)?

[FerdinandII]

If the preamp is designed the way I described (cathode follower outptut...), it should be able to drive two amps from the existing output.

Have you tried running your DAC directly into the Plinius, and using the volume control on the PC? It might be an interesting experiment...
Caution is called for, as full power from that Plinius could do some serious damage.

The XLR-to-XLR connection might surprise you, as I think the DAC has dual chips inside and has a balanced output.

[dkalsi]

Have you tried running your DAC directly into the Plinius, and using the volume control on the PC? It might be an interesting experiment...
Caution is called for, as full power from that Plinius could do some serious damage.

The XLR-to-XLR connection might surprise you, as I think the DAC has dual chips inside and has a balanced output.

Ferdinand - I have not tried running directly from DAC to AMP - I'm actually afriad to

I'm afraid that, the one instance I forget to disable/turn down volume on my computer - full power will go to the speakers.

[FerdinandII]

Just select a different input on the DAC for shut-down & start-up..........

FWIW, that was one nice part of having the Meridian 518 in the system - I could always see the volume setting before I turned my power amp on.

My current DAC has an integrated volume control, so it acts like a digital preamp for my system.
It's an OK DAC, not great.....
Certainly not SOTA like the Meridian set was when I got it 10+ years ago.

[dkalsi]

Just select a different input on the DAC for shut-down & start-up..........

FWIW, that was one nice part of having the Meridian 518 in the system - I could always see the volume setting before I turned my power amp on.

My current DAC has an integrated volume control, so it acts like a digital preamp for my system.
It's an OK DAC, not great.....
Certainly not SOTA like the Meridian set was when I got it 10+ years ago.

I guess that too is an optoin. Just out of curiosity, where are located?

[FerdinandII]

DC - Capitol Hill

[Roscoe Primrose]

Your amp has a volume control doesn't it? Turn the amp volume down until full output on the DAC is just a little too loud, then you'll never have a problem if the PC volume gets too loud...

Roscoe

[FerdinandII]

I don't think the Plinius does have a volume control......

:character-oldtimer: Your amp has a volume control doesn't it? Turn the amp volume down until full output on the DAC is just a little too loud, then you'll never have a problem if the PC volume gets too loud...

Roscoe