software

Idk if this is a dumb question or not but what do people use preamps and poweramps for (like the kind that you buy seperate from an amp, ie. the marshall jmp-1 preamp or the el34-100/100)?

Same thing you use a head or combo amp for. Both of those contain both a preamp and power amp. The rackmount versions just offer flexibility, for example you could pair a Mesa/Boogie preamp with a VHT or Marshall power amp for tones you won't find in any head or combo.

But why would you use a head with a rack poweramp?


Originally Posted by guitarplayerBut why would you use a head with a rack poweramp?

Probably a head to produce the tone, then power amps to drive multiple speaker cabinets. Some may not agree, but I think of preamps and power amps as kind of an 80's thing, when everyone had these huge racks that they ran in stereo that could do everything including launching the space shuttle (and produced cheesey, way over-processed, thin tones). Rack pre- and power amps are very easy to integrate with rackmount effects boxes.