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Volume settings questions

justinjgl

justinjgl

New Member
I have the Nobsound NS- 02D EL-34 tube Amp with 1 aux input and 1 main Volume control. I want to add a dedicated Preamp. with all the extra inputs
and functions. And it obviously has a volume control. What is the best way to work with 2 volume controls. Should I Max. the volume control on the
power Amp. And use the Preamp volume to adjust the sound level.
 
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I have often followed that scenario but it doesn't work well without adding a lot of noise as hiss.

I would start out by turning one or the other half way up and then turning the other one up and hear how you like the sound. There is really no wrong way to do it so just experiment. You won't hurt a thing.
 
Thanks. But I could just rewire (bypass) the pot and use it like a basic standard power amp with no volume like many
power amps are designed. Will that work ??
 
In this situation I usually adjust the amplifier's v/c so that 1 o'clock on the preamp is my max listening level.
This gives a good range for the preamp v/c from low to high listening levels.

Bypassing the amplifier pot can work, but I would max it first and see where the preamp v/c ends up.
If the preamp has a lot of gain its v/c might be very low and not have much range from low to too loud.
 
adjust the pot on the amp so that you have better control with the preamp.

ex: if you max the amp's control and you hit full power with the pre's volume control at 9o clock, you might want to turn the amp down.
 
painttoad said:
adjust the pot on the amp so that you have better control with the preamp.
Click to expand...
century tek said:
I have often followed that scenario but it doesn't work well without adding a lot of noise as hiss.
Click to expand...
These two combined tell the story. You want to have good control from the preamp, but you don’t want to add noise from either the preamp or the amplifier. Practically, this means finding at what point on the dials of the preamp and amplifier that noise becomes audible. Then, create a balance between the two of them that minimizes the noise while maximizing the control on the preamp. It will take a little bit of experimenting but it’s easy to do and kind of the point of the technical side of this hobby.
 
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