Audiophiles these days often “skip the preamp” and just connect their DAC or CD player directly to their power amp because the DAC, CD player, laptop or Roon/Tidal provides volume adjustment. This might seem like a good idea, but there are 5 reasons to buy a dedicated preamp for your home stereo system:
- Using a preamp sounds better. (As long as it’s a good preamp.) We have found this to be true, and so have our customers who previously used their DAC’s volume control but then switched to a Backert Labs. The raves and the surprised, happy responses make everything we do worthwhile. But only you can decide if you agree. We make that easy, with our 14-day in-home review period when you buy direct from Backert Labs, and many of our dealers offer similar arrangements to let you hear a Backert Labs with your own equipment.
- Going without a preamp by using your DAC or laptop’s volume control doesn’t actually eliminate the preamp. It just changes the location of the preamp, from a fully-dedicated active device (such as a Backert Labs) to a smaller device or software in your DAC, CD player, laptop, or Roon or Tidal. A device that may have been an afterthought for the company that built it. You might think you have “skipped the preamp,” but what you’ve actually done is chosen a different preamp. A method that may be passive, software-based, and/or digital. Which is better? We find that a high quality active analog preamp provides more musical enjoyment every time.
- Your DAC may not have enough gain. An active preamp will take care of those situations where your DAC, CD player, etc. just doesn’t have enough juice to properly drive your power amp.
- Impedance. An active preamp manages the impedance of your music signal, so the power amplifier receives a constant level of impedance that it is happy dealing with. If your DAC has a passive volume control, it can make music sound different at lower volumes than it does at medium volumes. And different again, at higher volumes. Worse, the impedance of such a passive volume control can rise to levels that power amps do not like, resulting in weak, lean, non-punchy sound. We are proud of the consistent and very low ouput impedance of every Backert Labs linestage preamp.
- A preamp lets you manage your sources. A preamp allows you to collect all of your music sources in one place, and then conveniently decide which source is fed to the power amp with a simple “Selector” switch on the front panel.
To see if a dedicated preamp is truly better than the “miniature alternative preamp” inside your DAC, CD player or laptop, just call any of our dealers, or give us a call. We’ll have you tapping your foot to a new level of sound quality in less than a week. Then you can decide for yourself whether a dedicated preamp is worth it.
