2ch observation

[Asere]

I currently own the MH Ikura turntable, Lounge Audio lcr mk3, Parasound hca 1500a amp and avr x4200, parasound zpre3 stereo preamp.
The setup is turntable connected to lounge to zpre3 to avr to parasound amp.
I have been doing A/B testing for fun and find when listening straight to the x4200 phono and then with lounge with zpre3 they both sound about the same.
Now when the lounge is connected to the parasound amp (omitting the x4200 and zpre3) I hear more clarity.
Is this because the receiver is the weakest link?

 

[ddude003]

In a perfect world phono stages, preamps, amps and AVRs would all sound the same, err a straight wire from point a to z... Alas, we live in an imperfect world and phono stages, preamps, amps and AVRs all end up adding something along the way... And unfortunately that something is not always so swift...

Forward to your question if your AVR is your weakest link... I would say yes as it is a phono stage, a preamp, an amp and a DAC, tuner and video switcher all rolled into one... That is a lot of stuff to cram into one box... And Maxwell, Tesla and Faraday have a lot to inform you of on this subject...

Now to be more precise, your lounge phono stage looks to supply 1 volt as output... Standard line level is 2 volts... So, I am thinking that you may be seeing an issue with how each of the other components, AVR or zpre3, deal with this gain structure... And of course, the less things you have in your signal chain the better things will sound... To wit the lounge phono stage directly into the amp... How do you attenuate that?

 

[Asere]

In a perfect world phono stages, preamps, amps and AVRs would all sound the same, err a straight wire from point a to z... Alas, we live in an imperfect world and phono stages, preamps, amps and AVRs all end up adding something along the way... And unfortunately that something is not always so swift...

Forward to your question if your AVR is your weakest link... I would say yes as it is a phono stage, a preamp, an amp and a DAC, tuner and video switcher all rolled into one... That is a lot of stuff to cram into one box... And Maxwell, Tesla and Faraday have a lot to inform you of on this subject...

Now to be more precise, your lounge phono stage looks to supply 1 volt as output... Standard line level is 2 volts... So, I am thinking that you may be seeing an issue with how each of the other components, AVR or zpre3, deal with this gain structure... And of course, the less things you have in your signal chain the better things will sound... To wit the lounge phono stage directly into the amp... How do you attenuate that?

If I understood your question. When I directly connect the lounge to the parasound amp it's connected to the parasound stereo inputs. If I go that route the avr and zpre3 are not involved. The issue with that is one I would have to use the hca amp gain knob to attenuate the volume. (No avr involvement)
The straight connection from the lounge to amp gives a much lively sound.

 

[ddude003]

From what you said, it sounds like you need to find a preamp that sounds like nothing...