Definitions: Preamp, line stage, phono stage, etc.

Aug 21, 2008 at 10:36 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 3

breakfastchef

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It used to be, twenty plus years ago, that high end sound systems had a preamp and amp before the speakers. The preamp usually had things like a source slelector, treble and bass control, perhaps volume and phono preamp, etc. Nowadays, with the introduction of digital sources, the basic sound chain has changed depending on what you want to feed your amplifier. There are line stages, preamps, line conditioners, blah, blah, blah. What ever happened to treble and bass controls?

Can anyone direct me to a web link or two that defines the different components that can make up the modern sound chain? I am not looking for an active thread, just a shortcut to my hours of Internet searching.
 
Aug 22, 2008 at 10:28 AM Post #2 of 3
If you search for "passive preamplifier" you'll get more info.

Basically as you say 20 years ago the majority of people didn't just have digital sources so therefore pre-amplifiers which not only switched between sources but also amplified the voltage of the analogue source and allowed for basic re-equalisation via tone controls were standard, whether as separate components or built into recievers or integrated amps.

With the advent of all digital sources people realised that this was one more component in the chain which could degrade the signal and therefore either went "passive" or ditched them altogether....
 
Aug 24, 2008 at 2:30 AM Post #3 of 3
And people wonder why folks complain of audio sounding "too digital". A stereo without tone controls is like a car without a steering wheel. It's fine as long as you want to go the direction that the wheels are pointing, but it doesn't take long to hit a brick wall that way.

See ya
Steve
 

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