INVOLVE AUDIO - Pre-amp design - we want your input!

[0tto]

Greetings fellow insane audio fiends! I come before you today with the news that we have started the design phase of our surround pre-amp.

On the preliminary feature wish-list we have

Moving magnet / moving coil inputs,
Tape in/out (remember that? I sure don't)
Stereo out, Involve 4ch, 5.1ch out, SQ decoding mode out
Dual woofer output
Headphone out.
Support for HDMI in / pass-through, , RCA in, Bluetooth in. (possibly optical in)
Remote control of all major features
LCD
Level adjust for all channels

What I would like from you is to throw sh*t at the wall to see what sticks. What sorts of things would you like to see in our preamp? I'm not going to say all or even any suggestions will be incorporated, we're only human after all and bound by things like time, cost, and the laws of physics (mostly) but I will say that all ideas will be taken into consideration, at a level of seriousness proportional to how outlandish it is, of course (I'm not putting in a whiskey dispenser. I've been told. Several times. Dammit)

So yes, please. Bring on the ideas.

And as an afterthought, how much would you expect to pay for the pre-amp of 75% of your dreams?

I await with baited breath (I had fish for lunch)

~David

i don't know how much necessary is tape in/out.
i have open reel, cassette and 8 track decks but very rarely have use for them and in fact they all hooked up to secondary old quad system.
let's face it - not many will run to find and buy such equipments even if they decided to get your pre-amp.
also have doubt in regards of optical/coax interfaces. seems not far the day, when these will be phased out.
instead of such, an analog chain of processing signal from phono in with an ability to tweak bass/treble and solid ability to utilize WiFi home
network to process different audio and video formats, has become absolutely "a must" function for todays home entertainment center.

 

[Four Rules]

Good news!
What I miss from the wish-list is a 5.1 input in order to hook up all the other decoders one has.
The new surround preamp should work as an ideal link between the analogue and digital world. Therefore a HDMi output is a MUST!
Apart from that I think the wish-list is quite complete. Metal case, not the cheapo plastic one I already have (would you trade in???).
Folks, hurry up and get this beast working asap.
Price: €1500 max

Four Rules

 

[Overture]

Hi everyone!

Thanks for all the input - sorry for the radio silence the last few weeks, been a touch busy with a couple of other projects that will come to light in the near to moderate future.

Meanwhile, we're chewing through the options for viability and so forth, and I'll keep this thread updated when there is news.
Feel free to keep adding suggestions - sometimes the last-minute features are the most desired. Well, that's how it seems anyway, every time I buy something I love it seems there's an interview on Engadget talking about "You won't believe how close we were to not including that thing everyone loves"

Anyway, I digress.

Happy National Day for yesterday to any Ethiopians who might be reading!

~David

 

[0tto]

mainly my curiosity if you will consider to implement wireless home network for this unit at all?

 

[chucky3042]

Hi Otto

Sorry about the delayed response- I was assuming Overture would respond (lazy *******).

We have been using a wireless module in the dual amp Y4 unit. It is a possibility so I will prod Overture and see.

Regards

Chucky

\

mainly my curiosity if you will consider to implement wireless home network for this unit at all?

 

[Overture]

mainly my curiosity if you will consider to implement wireless home network for this unit at all?

Hey Otto,

The wireless Chucky refers to is simply the audio transmission from the front unit to the back in the split version of the Y4.

Wireless networking would be up there with usb / ethernet, in that it would make the unit a playback system as well as a preamp, which is beyond the scope of what we're trying to do with this particular unit.

Not ruling it out entirely mind you, I am looking at a bunch of networking options for our products, but at the moment it's lower priority for this unit.


~D

 

[LuvMyQuad]

There has been very little discussion about what kind of bass management capabilities that belong on the wish list. In my case, I use the analog output from my Oppo player and keep it analog all the way through. I kinda like Parasound's solution in the Halo C7 where it includes a 2 channel analog crossover. That way one can use the built in bass management from the player and still have an analog crossover for 2 channel analog sources.

 

[BigAlt]

Support for Strain Gauge Cartridges would be nice as well.

 

[karlkastner]

Hi Chucky and David,

Please increase the spacing between both the RCA inputs and outputs. Those on the Surround Master are too narrowly spaced. This creates problems when you try to use high quality RCA cables with larger collars.

Thanks. Anxiously awaiting this!

 

[chucky3042]

Hi

Really agree on that, I hated that $50,000 plastic box!

Chucky

Hi Chucky and David,

Please increase the spacing between both the RCA inputs and outputs. Those on the Surround Master are too narrowly spaced. This creates problems when you try to use high quality RCA cables with larger collars.

Thanks. Anxiously awaiting this!

 

[TVB]

My dream machine would be a new quad analog preamp with the surround master built in(both SQ modes and QS mode) I have a Q8 deck, Q4 deck, CD-4 source and oppo with all using 4 analog outs. I would need one of the Tape sources to have 4 inputs so I could record onto the Q4 deck from any of the quad sources. My Oppo takes care of decoding digital sources so I have no need for any bass management or fancy stuff. A 4 channel preamp analog out (RF-LF -RR-LR ) would go to my Adcom 4 channel amp (connected to 4 full range 12" 3 way JBLs). A Phono preamp for MM and moving coil would be great as I have both. Tone controls (Bass 60 KHZ and treble 10000 khz) with a loudness circuit would complete my package. I suggest you design this simple preamp first (hopefully for $1000.00-but i would pay more) And then you can design the fancy smancy one for all the modern equipment users that decode from digital receivers and all that computer stuff (written sort of tongue in cheek). Thanks for letting me get in my 2 cents worth.