Adding a Moreplay to Stereomour II setup

[lskiii]

Hi All,

I'm fairly new to Bottlehead and I have some questions about the Moreplay... 

As background, a couple of weeks ago I built a Stereomour II.  I thoroughly enjoyed the build process (it was the second time I ever built an amp kit and it came together without any issues).  The audio quality is terrific.  My setup is Bluenode 2i > Schiit MB Bifrost > Stereomour ii to Klipsch Heresy II's (that have Crites upgraded tweeter diaphragms and upgraded x-over).  I installed the DC filament upgrade and built the power cord kit and will be installing the shunt upgrade.  I'm on the fence about doing the volume upgrade.

So, all that out of the way, my questions about the Moreplay:

1. Can someone help me understand what benefit I might expect from adding the Moreplay to my setup?  I only have a single source, so this would only be about adding an additional gain stage.  Any thoughts on that?

2. I've had solid state pre-amp / power amp setups in the past and I controlled the volume exclusively with the pre.  How would that work with a Stereomour / Moreplay combo?  Would I modify the Stereomour to bi-pass the volume controls?  Or, just leave it full out at all times?  Would there be any reason perhaps to instead leave the Moreplay full out and control the volume with the Stereomour?  In past setups when I had a pre and an integrated, I would bypass the pre in the integrated, so I'm not sure how that would work here.

Also, for what it's worth, in the past I've always run my system with solid state amps - the least powerful of which was an NAD 3020 - and I was somewhat concerned that the Stereomour at 3.5 watts would be an issue from  a volume output perspective.   What I've found is that in fact  I normally run my Stereomour at about 75% to 80% open and will often lower the volume a bit from my streamer (the Bluenode 2i).  So in a way I'm already using my streamer as a "pre" to attenuate the volume.   

To be honest, I'm itching to get a Moreplay mostly for the fun of building it, but I'm struggling with how to rationalize that decision ;-). Any help with this will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for making great products! 

Louis

[Paul Birkeland]

The Moreplay will give you a little more gain, which is sometimes helpful if your sources don't put out a ton of voltage.

With the Stereomour, you'd just turn the volume control all the way up.  I would not modify the Steremour to bypass the controls, as amps like this take a huge hit in the resale market, and that's always a possibility down the road. 

The position of the volume control on the Stereomour has no bearing on how much power it puts out (unless the volume pot is all the way down, then it's putting out 0W).

If you plan to run a vinyl rig in the future, you'd likely find the Moreplay to be useful to give you a little more gain, that's how I would rationalize it: planning for the future!