That was my solution too, I am using my old Yamaha CX-2 Pre Amp for its Phono Pre Amp.....a great sounding, er, I should say very neutral Pre Amp, and it was the right price. I end up with two volume controls.....no big deal..........probably one of the best solutions going ......the idea of using an old pre amp built when turntables were the most important piece of equipment on our racks....makes sense....great idea!!!!Plus, some extra inputs/outputs now..........

I have a Creek OBH-8SE. You can't do better for the money, IMO. Especially since I got mine used for a fraction of retail.

gb,

As daddy_guy says, it's not an issue - rather an opportunity.

I use the 1130's pre-out / volume control to balance the level to match the other components hooked-up to my 950. If I ever needed more audio inputs I could connect to the 1130.

However if you still have inputs left on the 950 it's probably best to go direct, to reduce the risk of adding any additional noise etc. (Although I must say that the 1130 is a very "quiet" pre-amp, and the chance of it degrading the sound by being in the loop is probably remote.)

Regards.

Jeff Mackwood

Jeff,

Thank you for the response. I will try this set up with my old (but still very good) NAD 1155 pre-amp and the 950 or the Denon 3801. Do you have a preference as far as which input into the 950 to use? And does it matter?

Thanks again.

Best,

gb

gb,

Any analogue audio input (except for the "Multichannel input") should do. Aux 1 or 2 are my choices since they are not labelled as something else (like "CD".) There should be no difference in sound for any of them. Just set-up your surround mode preference for whatever you are most likely to want to use most of the time. (PLIIM-CR is my favourite.)

Regards.

Jeff Mackwood

If you use any surround mode, you get extra A-to-D-to-A conversions. The whole point to lp, IMO, is to keep it in the analog domain. You should use 2 ch bypass.

Kevin,

And I can appreciate that mode of thinking. But why not take it a step further and eliminate a few analogue connections and a whole bunch of room effects as well? Just plug a good set of headphones into the old pre-amp's headphone jack. In the case of my NAD 1130 it claims to have a "powerful headphone amplifier circuit: no power amp needed for full-volume headphone listening."

Personally if I want to listen in stereo I agree fully that running the 950 in stereo bypass works great. But I kinda like what the 950 does with its processor as well; it produces a sweet set of 1's and 0's.

Either way works great.

Jeff Mackwood

Jeff- I guess if the goal is to just have access to the content of an lp as opposed to a CD, then all the processing might be preferred. But if a person is truly trying to get the best sound they can, then 2 ch bypass is probably the way to go. As for headphones, just another way.

I've read good reviews on Graham Slee and have had it recommended...nice price, too.

http://www.grahamsleeprojects.supanet.com/