What exactly is a power amp?
And whoever responds to this.
what's one of the best power amps?
OH..and what's the difference between a Preamp and a Power amp?
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I'll preface this by saying that I'm speaking more of tube based amplifiers here, solid state amplifiers are similar in composition, but some of the info here doesn't apply to them: read on.
The Preamp and Power amp are sections of a standard amplifier head or the amplifier section of a combo that boost the signal of you guitar.
On a typical multi-channel amplifier, when you adjust your channel volume, you are increasing your preamp volume, and when you adjust your master volume, you're increasing your power amp volume.
Each of the sections is responsible for different parts of the tone. Overdriven preamp sounds are what we typically think of as distortion, overdrive, or fuzz, while a hard driven power amp section lends a more spongy quality to the way the notes come through. The drivers (speakers) lend their own sonic nuances to the tone, but that's another story all together.
It also bears noting that some guitars have built in pre-amps, these guitars and basses are typically referred to as "active". This preamping does not change the way the amplifier's preamp functions, though similar settings may produce different sounds as a result of the enhanced signal.
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