I have a Gustard R26 Dac, and was planning to buy the Gustard P26 preamplifier. Now, with the release of H26, I am considering if I should buy this one instead. But in this case, I am basically looking for a stereo preamp, not a headphone amplifier.
Here are some questions regarding the H26 I have asked both Gustard, and Shenzenaudio. No response, at least till when I posted this:
- Is it possible to change the input and output gains on the H26 between 0dB and +6dB, like on the P26?- (the description does say 2 levels of gain, whatever that means..)
- Could I swap the LME49720 Op-amps to Sparkos Labs SS2590? It is definitely possible to do this on the P26. Not clear if there is enough space to do this on the H26, because the picture of the H26 shows capacitors mounted very close to the Op-amps, and the Sparkos OpAmps are big and need space (1.1 x 1.1 inch, or 2.8 x 2.8 cm)
- In pure Preamp mode, what are the advantages of the H26 compared to the P26 Preamplifier, besides the dual toroidal transformers?
- Is the H26 really a good match for the R26 DAC? I am asking because for XLR input, the H26 claims to have input impedance of only 8K Ohm, compared to 47K Ohm for the P26 preamplifier. Does this not seem like a bit low for a pre-amp? Most pre-amps have much higher input impedance. Like, the Denafrips Hestia is 60K Ohms..