This preamp should give me a lot more flexibility concerning what can be connected to the system.
At the moment, I can connect only the computer via the balanced outputs of the DAC.
I want to be able to connect other things to the system.
Additionally, although there is sufficient gain from the 2 stages of amplification within the power amp, it is cutting things very fine as I am listening at 3 o'clock on the volume control. I really could do with another stage of voltage gain, which the preamp will provide.
Adding 12dB of boost in the digital domain via iTunes makes things perfect ie the amp just clips at maximum volume, but this is not the ideal situation.
So adding gain at the front is a good solution, and another 12dB is what I am looking for. Whether 6AQ5s will supply this is another question I need to deal with.
Sgt. Baker started talkin’ with a Bullhorn in his hand.
Your balanced preamp looks like a good place to add a CCS. If you CCS loaded the pair of tubes in the preamp the preamp could accept balanced or single ended inputs and provide a balanced output.
Unless you go for a good transformer the CCS will perform better. The little Sowter 10K:10K transformers measure pretty good but have an opaque sound. The Tribute inputs are amazingly transparent as well as measure great. The CCS load sounded very much like the Tribute input transformer.
