Some of the most important lessons I’ve learned came from being wrong.
And I am right about that. :)
As a designer, I’ve always trusted logic. If something adds circuitry to the signal path, it should degrade transparency. If a DAC already has a lossless volume control, inserting a preamplifier in front of it should make things worse. Cleaner, shorter, simpler—that was my belief, and on paper, it made perfect sense.
Then Arnie Nudell and Bascom King proved me wrong.
Years ago, we did a shootout. Same source, same amplifiers, same speakers. The only difference was whether the system ran direct from the DAC or through a truly great preamplifier (at the time, it was the Aesthetix Calypso). I expected confirmation of my position. Instead, the sound opened up. Images became more dimensional. The music breathed in a way it hadn’t before.
Sh**t.
My only saving grace: I was right in accepted theory—and wrong in practice. Most preamplifiers do, in fact, make the sound worse. They blur transients, and flatten spatial cues, increase two-dimensionality. But once performance crosses a certain threshold, everything changes.
At that level, a preamplifier becomes magical.
Despite the logic.
That lesson evolved into the BHK Preamplifier and eventually, the PMG Signature Preamplifier. Darren designed it as an all-out assault on the state of the art, not to add character, but to remove the blur.
Today, there’s no doubt left in my mind. Simplicity is not the absence of components. It’s the absence of harm.
And sometimes, the most logical thing you can do is admit you're full of it and reap the rewards of learning from others.
0 comments