pre amps with variable input

Posted by: sjw on 24 August 2018

I'm very pleased with my 'stand in' nait 5 at the moment in one system- especially the ability to vary the input sensitivity on the inputs.

I the others system there's a 202/200 napsc and flatcap - which might be a pre amp that I could use instead of the 202 so I could do the same as I can on the Nait5 and 'trim' the inuuts/

thanks!

 

Posted on: 24 August 2018 by feeling_zen

I'm surprised and impressed the Nait 5 has this feature. You won't find this on any of the dedicated preamps. You will however find that the 272 has a much lower input sensitivity in-line with more modern sources. The 202, 282, 252 all have the same, fairly high sensitivity.

On the other hand, whether the sensitivity presents a problem or not largely depends on the output level of your sources and speakers used. Some forum members report problems with the high sensitivity. Others don't.

Posted on: 24 August 2018 by yeti42

The 112 had it I think, bit of a downgrade from a 202 though.

Posted on: 24 August 2018 by sjw
feeling_zen posted:

I'm surprised and impressed the Nait 5 has this feature. You won't find this on any of the dedicated preamps. You will however find that the 272 has a much lower input sensitivity in-line with more modern sources. The 202, 282, 252 all have the same, fairly high sensitivity.

On the other hand, whether the sensitivity presents a problem or not largely depends on the output level of your sources and speakers used. Some forum members report problems with the high sensitivity. Others don't.

It means that i can even up the difference between turntable and cd etc  and the audiovector speakers are 90db in the smaller room so I feel that I have more control..

Posted on: 24 August 2018 by Fueller

 

yeti42 posted:

The 112 had it I think, bit of a downgrade from a 202 though.

I’ve owned the 112 and 202 - the input trim on 112 was handy but well behind a 202 on sq. 

Posted on: 25 August 2018 by hungryhalibut

You can trim the inputs on the 272. It’s really useful, and good to get upnp, FM, iRadio and the digital input from the TV at a similar level. It works on the analogue inputs too, for example a phono stage. The 272 would replace the 202 and Hicap, and sound better as well. 

Posted on: 25 August 2018 by sjw

But it's £3700....

Posted on: 25 August 2018 by hungryhalibut

You didn’t mention a price limit.... You can get them used for about £2,500, and selling the 202 and Hicap would cover a lot of that. Anyway, it’s an option that does what you want. I imagine the 172 has the same facility, but it won’t be as good as the 202. 

Posted on: 25 August 2018 by Richard Dane

 Of the regular pre-amps, the NAC112 and NAC112x have it - it was facilitated by having a resistor ladder/encoder volume control.  The other pre-amps use an ALPS pot, which means you lose this facility.  

Of the two, the NAC112x was much the best choice. Partnered with a Flatcap2x and a NAP150x and you have a very nicely balanced Naim pre-power indeed for a reasonable amount of money.

Posted on: 25 August 2018 by sjw

and with a nap200? instead of the 202 much quality loss?

 

thanks as ever

Posted on: 25 August 2018 by hungryhalibut

The 202 is a lot better than the 112x. In my view it would be foolish to make the change simply to get the facility to adjust the input levels. 

Posted on: 25 August 2018 by Richard Dane

I agree with HH, unless you absolutely must have the facility to adjust individual input levels, then the NAC202 is quite a marked step up performance-wise.  Even more so, once you have a NAPSC and a Hicap in place...

Posted on: 25 August 2018 by Simon-in-Suffolk

And if may say, it’s the HiCapDR (as opposed to the older non DR) that helps make the 202 come alive...  although I would say the jump from the 202 to the 282 is far greater than the 112x to 202.

Posted on: 25 August 2018 by Chag...

But why would you need to adjust input sensitivity in the first place? That functionality should not be a driver for selecting a Pre. ????

Chag -

Posted on: 25 August 2018 by feeling_zen
Chag... posted:

But why would you need to adjust input sensitivity in the first place? That functionality should not be a driver for selecting a Pre. ????

Chag -

Well it makes a lit of sense if you want to harmonise the relative volume of different sources or get more travel from the volune control. 

Some users with sensitive speakers and high voltage output digital sources find that the only usable volume is between 7 and 8 o'clock.