Audio Darien

Audio Darien – Holm Audio – Giant Catalog of Used and Demo Audio and Video Equipment – 630-663-1298

Welcome to Holm Audio! We’re conveniently located at 2050 West 75th Street in Woodridge – just a few minutes from Darien. Stop by our store and check out our incredible inventory of excellent quality and affordably priced used and demo products like turntables, CD players, CD transports, cables, DVD players, amplifiers, preamplifiers, tuners, processors, integrated amplifiers and receivers, speakers and lots more. We’re continually updating our inventory of Audio Darien products so be sure to visit us often to find the equipment you’re looking for! Our store features nine listening rooms where you can experience our audio and video products.

Audio Darien – Equipment Spotlight – Preamplifiers

A critical part of the Audio Darien sound chain, preamps are a type of amplifier designed to enhance weak signals before they’re directed to other devices. Preamps are frequently used to bring the output of mics up to a higher level where equipment can “work” with the noise signal. Magnetic pickups that you’ll see on instruments like guitars are typically run through a preamplifier to prepare the noise signal for use by other downstream devices. Preamps are tasked with delivering high amounts of gain while also introducing lower amounts of distortion and noise. (The degree to which an electrical circuit amplifies a noise signal is referred to as gain.)

Distortion is among those sound-related terms that is often used in a general sense. Specifically, distortion is any amount of deviation in the shape of a sound wave in between points on a noise signal path. That said, pretty much any audio processing such as compression or equalization are a form of distortion. While some distortion can be beneficial, other types of distortion like clipping, aliasing, or crossover distortion are typically not – although in some cases they are applied to good purpose.