Get Pre-amp & Envelope Follower

A high quality microphone preamp, however, will do much more than just make your mic level louder. It will deliver a cleaner, more accurate signal, with higher gain, lower noise, less distortion, and more headroom.

Preamps provide better sound quality than integrated amps in general, especially when you power speakers that are very hard to drive. The addition of a preamp allows for the future expansion of your system when you want to add other components such as a digital source and an additional power amplifier.

The difference between an amplifier and a preamplifier are the roles they do. An amplifier amplifies a sound before being played by the speaker. On the other hand, a preamplifier increases the level of a microphone signal to be strengthened.

A preamplifier, also known as a preamp, is an electronic amplifier that converts a weak electrical signal into an output signal strong enough to be noise-tolerant and strong enough for further processing, or for sending to a power amplifier and a loudspeaker. Without this, the final signal would be noisy or distorted.

In a home theatre system, the pre-amplifier performs two main functions: it handles switching between different line level sources and boosts the signal before sending it to the amplifier. A weak electrical signal becomes strong enough for additional processing, preventing noise and offering cleaner output.

Yes, you need both. A power amp expects a signal at line level; a preamp is needed for that. You could technically go from a preamp, straight to active speakers without an external dedicated power amp. But, only because active speakers have built-in power amps for each driver. It wouldn't work with passive speakers.

A preamp will take the low-level signal from the original and increase it to what is known as a line-level signal. A “line level signal” is a signal strength that is a standard for passing normal, analog sound to different parts of your equipment.