What is PreBee 2 For?

Emoreigns · 2572

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Offline Emoreigns

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on: January 09, 2024, 08:41:32 AM
Morning Gents,

Brace yourself for another noob question- I recently bought the Prebee 2 Pre Amp, and I plan to purchase the Kaiju once it comes back in stock. Now my question is what exactly is the purpose of the PreBee 2?

Does the Prebee 2 allow you to drive bigger or more powerful speakers? Or does it better the sound quality? Does it allow for more inputs to be connected?

Trying to figure out what purpose the Prebee 2 will serve in my chain- I have the Eros 2  bringing in my phono input and also the input through my DAC from my Computer, then I have my Crack for listening with headphones, and then the PreBee and Kaiju will be for listening loudspeaker out of my speakers.

So, I guess when does a set-up necessitate a PreBee 2 in it, and what purpose does it serve? Could I get away with just the Kaiju alone? What benefits do both together provide?

Trying to decide if I should just build the PreBee 2 and sell it, or if it would have a legitimate use for me-

Thanks again for bearing with my noob question- Cheers all + Happy Listening

~Happy Listening


Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #1 on: January 09, 2024, 09:25:50 AM
The Kaiju is just a stereo power amp and is relatively low in terms of sensitivity.  Depending on the sources you use, you may not be able to drive the Kaiju to full power if you hook them up directly, and you'd have to hook up one at a time since the Kaiju only has one set of inputs.  The Kaiju also isn't really setup with volume controls, as the pots on each inputs are just trim pots in case you want to even out the gain a bit. 

Generally, a linestage preamp will offer you multiple inputs with high input impedance so your sources don't get loaded down.  It will also provide volume control and almost always a little extra gain just in case, then a relatively low output impedance that can drive long cables or amplifiers with low input impedance/high capacitance. 

The Eros in particular really appreciates not driving long cables and driving a high impedance load.  The Kaiju will work a bit better with the BeePre as some sources have low output voltage, and the BeePre can nudge that up to better drive the Kaiju. 

-PB

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man


Offline Emoreigns

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Reply #2 on: January 11, 2024, 05:28:38 AM
Thanks for the explanation and the help as always Paul- So the Prebee kind of acts like the controller, and the Kaiju works almost exclusively as an amplifier. Well seems like the PreBee will have a spot in my chain after all. Got the word it shipped yesterday; so now I am excited!

Thanks again Paul-

-EE

~Happy Listening