Preamp to Preamp ?

I have what I hope will be an easy question for our technical people.

What ( other than a small mushroom cloud and fire department ) will happen if I run main out from one preamp to another preamp to be able to provide a slight bit of gain for a power amp for biamping the bottom end of my SL3s.

The SS power amp just doesn't keep up with the tubes on the panels.

Is this a recipe for disaster or not.

Brad

When my system was integrated I ran my AV preamp's front two channels through my tube preamp without problems so this can be done. Just remember to start with the volume of both preamps low and you should not have a problem. Many newer preamps have a pass through AV loop for just this purpose so you can use the volume control of the first preamp to control system volume. Have fun!

Most preamp have a tape loop, and you could hook them up that way.

I used to have my Carver C-4000 hooked into my Meridian 208 through the Meridian's tape loop. This let me use the Carver as a processor, using the sonic Holography and Autocorrelator circuits for sound enhancement and vinyl playback, but the Meridian was the main switcher and preamp...

--Richard

Try a set of online attenuators from parts express on the amps driving the panels. I dont recall the thread but thats what someone here suggested a while back....I was running tubes on the panels and they were drowning out the SS amps on the woofers. The attenuators are fairly cheap but I had to purchase a few pairs to find the ones that worked best. The typically are found in -3dB, -6, -12, etc.

Tj

You could use a ART Cleanbox...it converts unbalanced to balanced...but provides a gain control along with that...it's $50. (you can always convert back to unbalanced with an adapter or a specialty cord) I have that INSTEAD of a pre-amp, right now, and it works great.

Since no one else bothered to ask I will. Why not just attenuate the higher level signal? This really doesn't sound like a good idea to me. YMMV!

I think that's what TJ Bassi was suggesting above.

I used the second set of main out from the tube pre to the SS Aragon preamp then to the SS Aragon power amp. I worked fine and I was able to add a small amount of gain by ear until it sounded right to me. So many systems seem to have an exaggerated bass that I have never found enjoyable.

What did surprise me was how far I had to adjust the volume knob before I heard anything. I ended up with the volume set at about 12:00 to have the bass blend with the panels. These are the same amp/preamp I had been using prior to buying the tubes. I never listen with the volume set a 12:00 when they drove the SL3s. Would the signal from the ARC LS-25 be that low compared to the signal from the CDP?

Thanks to whoever moved this to the proper forum.