What are pre amps for? And do I need one?

[Headphone Czar]

I have the Yamaha 1800. I asume a tube pre amp would add the tube sound to my receiver. Or if I wanted a lowered noise floor and more detail.

[richteer]

Basically, a preamp is the bit of an amp/reciever that lets you select an input to listen to, and adjust the volume etc. The power amp is what actually makes that signal louder. In an AVR, the preamp might also do surround sound decoding, EQ, and room correction.

You could experiment with a tube preamp with your '1800, but you probably want to upgrade that too! Also, there aren't many multichannel tube preamps, which will obviously be an issue if this is for HT--rather than stereo--use.

FWIW, I love my tube preamp and power amps!

[Big Daddy]

A receiver consists of three parts: A Preamp, an Amplifier, and a Tuner. The preamp does all the switching (input/output). An amplifier creates power to drive the speakers and the tuner is the radio (Am/FM). The new preamps also do all the processing such as DSP, audio codecs, etc. You can say that a receiver consists of 4 components. You already own a receiver. Why do you need a preamp?

If you really want the tube sound, sell your receiver and buy a tube preamp and a tube amplifier or even a solid state amplifier.

[Headphone Czar]

Originally Posted by richteer

Basically, a preamp is the bit of an amp/reciever that lets you select an input to listen to, and adjust the volume etc. The power amp is what actually makes that signal louder. In an AVR, the preamp might also do surround sound decoding, EQ, and room correction.

You could experiment with a tube preamp with your '1800, but you probably want to upgrade that too! Also, there aren't many multichannel tube preamps, which will obviously be an issue if this is for HT--rather than stereo--use.

FWIW, I love my tube preamp and power amps!

2 channel. I use headphones exclusively.

[Headphone Czar]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

A receiver consists of three parts: A Preamp, an Amplifier, and a Tuner. The preamp does all the switching (input/output). An amplifier creates power to drive the speakers and the tuner is the radio (Am/FM). The new preamps also do all the processing such as DSP, audio codecs, etc. You can say that a receiver consists of 4 components. You already own a receiver. Why do you need a preamp?

If you really want the tube sound, sell your receiver and buy a tube preamp and a tube amplifier or even a solid state amplifier.

To get some tube sound.. I'd like to get a tube amp, but they tend not to have a headphone jack. And I like Digital receivers for various reasons..Maybe a tube buffer? pacificvalve.org has a lot of tube amps/pre amps.

[Big Daddy]

If you use headphones for 2 channel music, perhaps you should get a tube headphone amplifier and plug your headphone into it for that mellow tube sound. Pacific Valve in Chicago is a good source for tube products.

[richteer]

Originally Posted by Headphone Czar

2 channel. I use headphones exclusively.

OK. Given that you have an excellent pair of headphones (the Sennheiser 650s), if your budget will stretch to it the Cayin HA-1A is very highly regarded. I was tempted to buy one for myself a few months ago, but don't listen to headphones enough--or have a good enough pair of headphones!--to justify the expense. But given the headphone-exclusive nature of your listening, I'd say the Cayin would be perfect while you save up for a tasty pair of Stax earspeakers!

Both are pricey, but the best often is. Look on the bright side: even the Stax combo is cheaper than my speakers! :-)