Soong sifu,

I think the definition of a pre-amp requires the equipment to amplify the signal, which in many case an external crossover, phase-shift or EQ may not have a built in line driver, which therefore, does not classify it as a pre-amp??!!

Having said that, even our power amp has a pre-amp stage as an input section/stage to amplify the signal before it goes into the output section.


Notes:

A preamplifier (preamp) is an electronic amplifier which precedes another amplifier to prepare an electronic signal for further amplification or processing.

An electronic amplifier is a device for increasing the power of a signal. It does this by taking power from a power supply and controlling the output to match the input signal shape but with a larger amplitude. An idealized amplifier can be said to be "a piece of wire with gain", as the output is an exact replica of the input, but larger.

different people may interpret it differently...

1: pre-amp (pre=before)
it may mean anything installed before the signal go to the amp....
(e-xover, equalizer, parametic eq)

2: pre-amp (pre=front)
it may mean anything install at the front to adjust the amp properties
(anything tat can adjust the amp gain/setting tat put at the front of the car which is accessible by the driver when driving)

3: pre-amp (pre-amplify=amplify signal first before it reach amp)
it may mean anything tat amplify the signal before the amp amplify it
(anything tat got something like line driver to boost the signal)

This post has been edited by howiechoo: Oct 26 2006, 03:27 AM

btw, thread starter are mean those parametic eq if i interpret correctly...so there;s no point to keep talking anything else except parametic eq, but it's a good thread to let ppl wat is pre-amp

This post has been edited by howiechoo: Oct 26 2006, 03:28 AM

my concern is about the brand. In the market there is too many brands with different kind of prices. Would like to know the differentiation of brands and quality.

What is the different of purchasing a cheap skate....preamp 4 band with a expansive 4 band preamp?

Thanks Howie.

This post has been edited by mnkh27: Oct 26 2006, 10:23 AM

Is preamp really useful?

no one answer my question yet.

Whats is the difference between crosover and preamp?

Im using 7 band pre amp right now since im using Line Out (RCA) for output. my HU only have 2 output (Left and right) so i really do need my Pre-amp to make the output become 4 before amplifying it..

Plus the eq is quite nice since i can adjust the sound to my preference.

the difference between cheap and expensive pre-amps are the materials used lo. Good components give u less interference therefore, before the signal is transferred to the amps, very little signal or power is being "lost" in the pre-amp. I hope i have answered your question.


WHY USE A PRE-AMP? It's main function is to do some tuning which older models of HU can't do. I hope i have answered your question.

If you need any advice on buying pre-amps. DON'T BUY ANY. Just go ahead and get a good HU. If you are still not satisfied with the level of tuning the HU gives u, go for a Active-crossover.




This post has been edited by kenlimfornication: Nov 27 2006, 01:51 PM