guitar players: what is the benefit of seperating the preamp from the power amp?

Question

that is using a seperate pre-amp system like a ART D/I witha seperate power amp to drive the speakers..why not have an integrated amp?

johnathan: so you mean that seperating the pre amp from the power amp helps to derive better fidelity?

Answer 1

It's the only way to insert an equalizer into the audio chain.

Answer 2

Well, when the whole "Rackmount" craze started some years ago, a lot of players started out with a rack unit / case to house certain rack style effects and the like , and the main idea was to implement this along with a regular series of amps (integrated regular guitar amps). So then , some companies went beyond effects , and started working on rackspace preamps and preamps combined with effects chains , etc. Then , they would combine all that with a separate power amp(s), and have everything all in one package. After that, everyone calmed down (LOL!) and started getting back to a basic amp system and focusing on THAT as the heart of their tone and sound. Like one answer said - if you're using an outboard preamp as the heart of your system , it's less hassle to just record direct off of that , which some people do. But more of us "guitarheads" like to get some air moving (speakers), and you just can't duplicate that any other way. And the question of "Fidelity"? That's good for recording or playback specs , but for guitar , we care about signal, gain, overdrive tone , etc. terms not generally "Audio Lab" friendly, LOL! This is very similar to that "Tube vs. Solid State" issue for guitarists. Years ago , tubes in tv's and radios got replaced with solid state circuitry, and the result was better fidelity and dependability - but a majority of guitarists still rely on the age old concept of the tubes(s) for their guitar sound - it's warmer , fuller , more responsive to playing touch and technique, etc.

Answer 3

I'm not quite sure what you are trying to do, but if you use separate power amps and pre-amps you can change the sound... a LOT. Most guitar amps are integrated units, so this sounds like a recording "thing" that you are trying to do. If you are recording direct, you don't need speakers or a power amp.

Answer 4

you can totally change your tone.. you can have a tube preamp and a solid state power amp and so on.. it looks cool but its allot too lug around for gigs...plus your seperate rack mounted effects.. you can pretty much do everything with an integral unit set up for your sytle of playing there are lots of amp choices out these days..