Active or passive?

comparing the direct connection from my cd player to the power amp and through the preamp the direct sound is cleaner and more detailed (sanitized?) but through the preamp you get a cream-cheesy smoothness with a fuller bodied vibrancy but slightly unfocussed. is this the norm or would a better preamp be more neutral (currently MF 3a)?

 

Maybe it is best to state all your equipment.

 

Quad cd99p
Musical Fidelity 3a preamp/MVT PSU/Rega Planar3
Quad 909
Quad ESL988

there's more but it's still sitting around in boxes

 

I'm affraid this is the norm, even if you go for 10k GBP components. There are always trade-offs.

 

for the sake of simplicity i use a direct connection from my dax decade to my power amps. as i only have 1 source it seems the easiest, cheapest and logically the best way of doing it (less in the signal path means a more accurate signal) - however my power amps are valve / transistor hybrids and do have a slight 'warmth' to them which may help to tone down any stidency i might have otherwise got. that said when i was looking at power amps i did nearly go for a monster transistor jobbie but the current ones won me over. either was significantly better (in my system) than the nap 250 i then had - naim power amps really don;t like running without a naim pre.

i'd say listen to your system one way for a month and then the other way for another month and see which one you prefer / listen to more. if you can flog your pre then bonus - if not then fair enough.

cheers


julian.

 

the alternative is keep the direct connection but use a decent (QED?) switching box for a preamp connection when using vinyl.
i have heard some good things about the quad preamp - i certainly think it will be better than the MF preamp - but i'm still waiting for it to appear. i never flog old eqipment - too sentimental and anyway it can join the AV side of things as at the moment a Yamaha AV DSP is also preamping various other non AV sources into a P140 power amp.
I may try the Quad valve amps again instead of the 909 transistor amp - i never had time to compare them directly at the time i had to decide between them.
i want to have my cake AND eat it...

 

Your system is close to what I had a couple of years back .....

the sound your hearing ...the thin harshness [dirrect] I think is the effect of the ic your using ...get [build / borrow]a better one !

my 77pre modded is infierior to the 99cdp2 using a good ic ..the 77 and the 99 are essentially the same design [I think] but without the two way coms. If you go for the 99pre Don't feed the 909 via the bus use good ics ....its a pain as you lose functionality but I found it did sound better.

The 99cdp2 is a very hard to beat cdp unless you've wads of cash ...the last time I looked I felt I'd need to spend 2.5k to get a reasonable level of upgrade.

the 99pre is good value but not likely to set you alight!

MF gear .....is definately built down to a price the cost of the components is usually equivalent to a nice fish supper !

have a look inside a few judicious component changes could realy bring it to life. The designs are normally very good but strangled by poor components, this is certainly true of the newer units I've modded. The 3a must be getting old ...could just need a cap change to bring back the life [less cream cheese].

I've gone totally digital and feed all sources to the 99cdp for switching ...this would not be simple with a tt but not impossible either...use a behringer src2496 to convert analouge to digital and then feed the quad ....this solution would cost £99 approx....

you'd then need a good ic from quad to 909 but these tend to be rather down to personal taste .....if your wanting a diy solution pm me

 

thanks for your interest.

i've yet to hear the 99preamp but i only need to use it to support my turntable and i think that adding an AD convertor for the tt would take away the reason for it's existance and i'd be adding togethrer the flaws of both formats.
i'm happy to use an analogue preamp as long as too much detail doesn't leach away, it's that or a decent phono switch box (and extra cabling) which wouldn't and up too far from what it would cost me to get a 99 preamp.

just how active is an active preamp by the way?

i'm happy with the cd player (even the direct sound) it's just that comparisons will also make you decide and suddenly i'm aware that the sound could be a little more vibrant.

i'm still using the old cdp99 (apparently some had dvd transports due to a lack of dedicated cd ones) but quad have sent me the modded cdp99 which i have yet to take out the box - but it may sound better yet.

my cabling has hardly been exotic, sonic link silver pink ic and ixos 603 speaker cable but the modded cdp came with chord anthems and TAG speaker cable which i am currently using. it definately sounds better but i've yet to sit down and AB them out of interest.

the cable trial you did had a system with the quad valve pre and power. how does that compare to the 99/909 set up? i have actually listened to them before but i was concentrating on speaker selection at the time.

cheers

 

I'd disagree with Zanash (very respectfully as he is one of the good guys IMO)

I personally use any old interconnect, in fact I'm using a £5.99 5m interconnect from maplins right now. This is in the context of quite an expensive hifi (by my terms)

I'm not interested in cable wars by the way, I just don't think your problem is about cables.

I suspect your original question answers itself. Pre-amps do add colouration, which can be welcome. Different pre-amps all have a different sonic character.

If you want as near-to-not-being there as possible, try a Spectral.

Valve pre's, passive pre's all have their merits. Try a few is my humble suggestion.

 

The valve pre and power are very different ....Its not easy to be precise as the power amp valves were close to the end of there life.

I've moved from 707 to tamp to dynavox zr70e [push pull el34] to consonance cyber 800 .....so its not easy to remember the sound of the 707!

What I'm certain now is that the cyber800 are well ahead of the 707. Which I know sounds close to the 909 a a friend has one...

The chord anthem is ok ...good mid range solid performer typical copper stranded sound ... I still think you could do better !

I'm not familiar with the tag cables .......

How active is a preamp .....well a lot really they can put there own flavour into the music....but passives are odd to I've always been underwhelmed with all but the very best....and can be a bit thin cold and undynamic [in my system]

 

i agree the short signal path and neutrality is outweighed by the lack of colour, tone and general musicality.
i'll give a 99preamp a go for a start; if not up to the job the 99/909 could always be sold which would pay for most of the II forty setup....even in a minimalist way the grey quads look a little boring.