Amp vs Preamp tonality question

[blackraven]

I've got a question for all you separate amp/preamp owners. What has greater impact on warmth of sound, the amp or preamp?

[Feanor]

I've got a question for all you separate amp/preamp owners. What has greater impact on warmth of sound, the amp or preamp?

In my somewhat limited experience, both can make a very significant difference to "warmth".

On the power amp side I migrated from:

• Phase Linear 400, cool and sharp but not resolving, to
• NAD C270, fairly warm, better but still not very resolving, to
• Bel Canto eV02, neutral (but maybe just a tiny bit cool), and much more resolving and transparent plus a bit better micro-dynamics, ("PRaT"), to
• Monarchy SM-70 Pro, warmer and smoother but still very resolving, even better PRaT.

On the preamp side,

• Apt Holman, neutral, pretty good resolution but a bit dull and lacking PRaT, to
• Bel Canto eVo2i, hard to say because it was an integated with and I didn't have a separte power amp at the time, to
• Adcom GFP750, neutral and well resolving in passive mode but bright in active mode, to
• Sonic Frontiers LINE1, intitially neutral and "solid state sounding" with standard Sovtek tubes, then on the warm side of neutral, and smoother with greater sense of depth with Ampex 6922 PQ tubes.

[E-Stat]

What has greater impact on warmth of sound, the amp or preamp?

In the LP days, I would say the preamp due to the vast difference in gain. Today, I think amplifiers have more effect because of the speaker interaction. Especially because my digital sources drive the power amps directly.

rw

[O'Shag]

Both can have an impact. But if you want to 'warm up' the sound, a really nifty way to accomplish this is to insert the Musical Fidelity 10v3 tube stage either immediately following your source, or even between the preamp and amp. I was turned on to this by a well-known high-end amp/preamp manufacturer that will remain nameless. They were excited about the results themselves! And please don't take this as an indication that their amps don't sound right, because they are some of the best money can buy. It's just that some people prefer the warmth of tubes, and the additional benefits they can bring.