I’ve heard similar differences from the line stages of a Naim preamp when optional phono boards were added to the main motherboard but not used. While the amplifiers had a similar sonic character, it was clear that the (cheaper) non-remote unit sounded significantly better, sounding more refined and clearer. Taking the lids off it was obvious that the two were essentially identical apart from the motor added to turn the volume potentiometer and a handful of components needed to make it all work. I’ve heard samples of two budget Rotel integrated amplifiers (the RA-01 and RA-02) where the only difference was that one had a remote control and the other didn’t. Outboard DACs such as the Chord Qutest are a good thing (Image credit: Chord Electronics)Īll this may appear like I’m overstating the case, but there are practical examples of these phenomena. Not only that, it’s entirely possible that the extra bit of electronics you’ve added will itself inject unwanted noise into the power supply’s feed, also spoiling the performance of everything else. Adding an extra feature could possibly involve moving an existing part of the circuitry from its ideal location to somewhere less suitable, thus degrading the signal path and increasing the risk of interference or unwanted interactions all over the electronic sections of the product, be they mechanical, electrical or magnetic in nature.Īdding an extra feature such as a phono stage or DAC to an amplifier, say, could put its power supply under extra strain, affecting the supply’s ability to deliver a clean energy feed to the rest of the circuitry. Let’s start with space, which tends to be at a premium in most products. Every extra function needs additional circuitry, which in turn requires space, heat management, interaction control and power to make it work.
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Take a closer look at the hurdles and this becomes easy to understand. It seems that some issues in packing everything into one box remain intractable. And I’ve never heard a well-designed monobloc power amplifier bettered by its stereo sibling either. The best-sounding phono stages always seem to be outboard the same goes for digital-to-analogue converters and headphone amplifiers.
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Still, no matter how skillful engineers are, there are certain things that, in my experience, still hold true even today. Digital products have developed so that, in domestic hi-fi at least, separate ‘jitter busters’ are no longer a thing. Designers just seem to have got better at combining different functions within the same box, so it’s far less common now to find, say, preamps or CD players with outboard power supplies than it used to be, even if they do still exist at the top end of the market. Of course, being a determined upgrader, I then evolved that system with newer arrivals that reduced the box count somewhat – though that was never my reasoning for choosing them.