Using the PA as a preamp

tbetley

I have been using the PA as a bass x-over function only in my high end stereo set-up. I bypassed the the high end thinking the a/d and subsequent d/a would harden up the sound and add a bit of digititus to my Martin Logan electrostatic panels. Well this weekend I tried using the high pass feature of the dbx by running from the tape out from my preamp. It sounds great! No digititus, better dynamics from my high frequency amps (as I expected) better depth of field, just plain better. Now I wonder why I need a preamp at all! So can the dbx take a direct feed from my sacd player (thereby bypassing my preamp alltogether) and sound the same? I will definitely try it to confirm. Other than some sonic degredation (which I doubt) the only thing I will give up w/o the preamp is balance control and multiple input switching. I can live w/o multiple input swithching but maybe not the balance control. Can the dbx be configured for different gain right to left for highs ands lows? I love this unit.