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AUDIO FORUMS >> General Discussion and Support >> Question about pairing Torii with a preamp
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Message started by Shakeydeal on 08/20/18 at 15:29:59

Title: Question about pairing Torii with a preamp
Post by Shakeydeal on 08/20/18 at 15:29:59

I am thinking about a preamp. It might be an active, but I am also looking at an LDR, since I owned one before and liked it. Where would you run the existing volume pot on the amp? Wide open for an active preamp and passive? Or different for each one?

Thx

Shakey

Title: Re: Question about pairing Torii with a preamp
Post by Shakeydeal on 08/20/18 at 20:18:59

C'mon guys. No one has any input? Is the alps pot completely out of the circuit when it's wide open? Anyone?

Thx

Title: Re: Question about pairing Torii with a preamp
Post by Lon on 08/20/18 at 20:27:35

This place moves slow sometimes. I was myself holding back to see if anyone else was going to give an opinion.

Personally I've not had good luck with passive preamps, and prefer an excellent powered one (less than excellent need not apply with Decware amps that have gain knobs).

With a passive I would keep the amp full up and control the volume via the preamp. With an active you can "ride the gain," and I would play around with having the amp somewhere between half and fully turned up and using the preamp volume. You should get different textures of sound that way and it's fun to find what works best. . . .

Title: Re: Question about pairing Torii with a preamp
Post by hdrider on 08/21/18 at 02:52:19

Shakey- If I was going to use a passive preamp, I would have the amp volume maxed, or darn near depending on if I had enough volume. I had one passive for a while (early 2000's) never a fan. I run my Rachael at about 80% and my CSP3 does the heavy lifting. That preamp has amazing flexibility and can really tailor the sound depending on what you want out of your system. If you have a Decware amp, you really should look at one of Steve's preamps. IMHO. Keep us posted and happy listening, Chris.

Title: Re: Question about pairing Torii with a preamp
Post by Shakeydeal on 08/21/18 at 11:51:34

Thanks for the replies, guys.

You may already know this, but an LDR doesn't suffer from the problems that resistor based passives have. In the respect of shifting impedance at different volume levels, it's also better than a TVC.

But the likely pairing of one of Steve's preamps with the Torii is attractive.

Shakey

Title: Re: Question about pairing Torii with a preamp
Post by JOMAN on 08/21/18 at 19:08:24

Like Lon I’ve been waiting te see what the responses would be before making a comment as I have not had experience with the Tori and the interfaces that you have. But I have had experience with passive and active pre’s and the CSP3, UFO2 and now the amazing UFO25.

In all cases the CSP3 has proved it’s place in my systems because of what Lon and hdrider posted. Being able to adjust gain structure or “ride the gain” and try different tubes enables a versatility that I have yet to have with any other components. In fact I would not do without a CSP3, I would get the CSP3-25 when available, absolutely, but not do without one of the CSP3’s.

Title: Re: Question about pairing Torii with a preamp
Post by Shakeydeal on 08/21/18 at 20:12:58

Thanks for your comments Joman.

Shakey

Title: Re: Question about pairing Torii with a preamp
Post by JohnnyB on 08/22/18 at 01:49:53

I would agree with Lon, Joman and hydrider myself. Currently running the SE84UFO2 with CSP3 with the amp anywhere’ around 1/2 to 3/4 volume and control your listening volume with the CSP3. I have found my system background noise louder with the amp maxed so I back off it a bit and turn the CSP3 volume up another click or two to get to my listening level. A passive preamp just doesn’t have the same weight, not sure if that’s the correct term but I’ve found a passive to be thin compared to actives with my SE84UFO2 amp. I have not had the pleasure of listening to a Torri in my rig so take with a grain of salt. :)

Title: Re: Question about pairing Torii with a preamp
Post by orangecrush on 08/24/18 at 04:25:57

Shakey, get a Tortuga LDR and don't look back.

OR, if you can, I highly recommend a Audio Note Kit 4.1 DAC. It will give you the weight, bass and dynamics that modern DAC suck at. No need for preamp. You won't believe your ears. All the detail with zero edge or glare. The last DAC you will ever need. The impedance is so low they work great with a LDR and any Decware amp. Or just skip the LDR if you don't need a remote.

Title: Re: Question about pairing Torii with a preamp
Post by Shakeydeal on 08/24/18 at 16:48:31

Well my MHDT Havana DAC has a pretty robust output. So does my K&K phono preamp. So it may be that if I can live w/o a remote, I don't even need a preamp.

This weekend I will be trying a TVC.

Shakey