[owain_thomas]

I'm wondering if this product actually exists or not, basically I am looking for a very good quality 6 channel pre-amp. All I want it to do is accept one set of six channel inputs and pass them through a remote controllable volume control. No processing, no fancy gizmos, no video switching just that.

do they exist or is there just not the market for them?

[RadBadMark]

Arcam C30 with the multichannel board installed will do just that.

The C30 has just been replaced by the C31, so if you can still find one you may be able to get a decent discount.

[Nic Rhodes]

There are several out there, often as an 'option', with valves, transistors, in black, silver....

[owain_thomas]

There are several out there, often as an 'option', with valves, transistors, in black, silver....

cheers nic!

[jradley]

Hi,

Depending on how much you're prepared to spend for "very good quality", you could consider the Bryston SP1.7 - it does exactly what you need (and more of course) very nicely, but at a price.

John

[owain_thomas]

hi john,

thanks for the reply but that's what I'm trying to get away from.

I know there are hundreds of very capable processors around that will decode many different types of digital audio, but all I want is a simple preamp, no digital connections, no decoding, just 6(or 8) analogue inputs, a volume control and analogue outputs to send the signal on to a power amp. I've got a new very high quality soundcard which will do a fine job of all the DAC work, it just lacks a proper volume control so I am a bit unhappy about connecting it to power amps directly.

owain

[Paul Smith]

Hi,
It sounds like you are describing a ' Harman Kardon Signature 1.0 ' preamp.

If my memory serves me correctly, it was essentially a high-end stereo pre-amp, which also happened to have a complete set of 7.1 inputs and outputs, comes complete with a remote control.

Of course whether you can find one now is another matter.

Paul.

[The Dude]

Owain... you disappoint me...!

You sound like you're in denial here mate.... you know the Aaron No.22 Cineast is calling you.........

Go on.... I'm daring you....

[Nic Rhodes]

Arcam, Densen, Copland off the top of my head, but there are others,whats the budget and we might be able to help more....

[owain_thomas]

hi nic,

budget's not really fixed yet as I'm just having a bit of a look around. I do want very good quality but would have to say that anything north of £1500 would be out of the question. Any suggestions for less than that?

ta,
owain

[Nic Rhodes]

The Arcam already mentioned is good, £1500 with the board you need.

http://www.arcam.co.uk/prod_fmj_C30_intro.cfm

Look to the Copland, that is a nice valve based unit which I think is cool, I thought it was about that price. The Densen I think is more

[Timmy C]

Both Sevenoaks and Audio T have ex demo C30's listed on their websites for £899. You will need the extra board but it should come in at well under £1500.

[Crustyloafer]

Yeah the Arcam C30 with the multichannel board is definitely the way to go.

[JohnS]

The Myryad MDP 500 and the MDP 500G6 both have a 7.1 bypass mode.

[Jeff]

A good thing about the Arcam is that it has 2 sets of 7.1 inputs. Very handy.

[owain_thomas]

hi sidmill,

is it really possible to get a LynxTwoB for £385? I thought they were a lot more than that?

[owain_thomas]

yeah, but £385 is what I paid for my RME 9632, plus the daughter card, plus delivery. the rme was from ebay and a bargain because of it, but it came from the UK.

Also, like you say, the credit card company will add 2%, there'll be 4% duty and 17.5% VAT for an import from the US, this puts the price of the Lynx up a fair bit.

Now admittedly the difference is not as much as the cost of a quality preamp but it is a fair step up just for a card that does software volume control. One of the reasons I'm quite keen on a preamp is that it just feels better (safer somehow) to have a physical control. not sure if this is just me being weird and maybe I need to get used to the idea of the PC controlling volume but it scares me a bit - do any Lynx owners find that their soundard suddenly jumps to 0dB? Its just not the sort of thing a preamp does...

[owain_thomas]

hi sid,

don't have the joy of kids yet but can see that a removal of a physical volume knob may well have its uses!

I'll have a look at that arcam, if you're sure you don't want to bid more I may put an offer in and give it a go.

Owain,

I'm doing the same thing, driving a set of poweramps directly from an htpc and had a concern about using the software volume control for two reasons, firstly a mistake, or an app setting volume controls to default could cause the speakers to be driven far too loud, secondly that apparently using the volume controls can restrict the dynamic range (less bits used or something).

The solution I came up with was to work out how much quieter I wanted the system to be (20dB in my case) at maximum volume and then had a set of custom rothwell attenuators made up to that value. Thus I use a tiny amount of volume control from max now and know exactly how hard the speakers will be driven in the worst case scenario. The attenuators are £40 a pair.

I tested the amount of attenuation I needed with an upsampling app which had a parameter to decrease volume, I just played around until I got the right value. Can't remember the name of it off the top of my head, but could find it if neccesary.

Regards,

SB

[owain_thomas]

hi spamboy,

that sounds quite interesting, so do you use digital volume control as well or have I misunderstood you?

where did you get the attenuators made up?

owain

I do use the digital volume control for fine adjustment, but it's only ever a maximum of 20 percent below maximum (if you see what I mean).

http://www.rothwellaudioproducts.co.uk/

Andrew there is very helpful.