I have the RA180 and want to experiment with an external preamp. I understand that the RA180 only allows passthrough with Input 3 which is single ended. If I want to use a balanced connection, around which volume level (RA180) would be closest to passthrough without extra gain from the internal pre-amp?
Thank you for your question about using the RA180 with an external preamp.
You are correct that Input 3 (AUX) is designed as the dedicated power-amp bypass (passthrough) input, and it is single-ended only. This input bypasses the internal preamp stage and allows you to connect an external preamp directly.
For the other inputs (balanced XLR or RCA), the signal still passes through the RA180’s internal preamp stage. Therefore, there is no exact “unity gain / full passthrough” setting available for those connections.
If you want to experiment with a balanced connection using an external preamp, the most neutral point would be to set the RA180’s volume around 2 o’clock to maximum (close to full scale).
This minimizes the influence of the internal preamp gain structure, though please note it is not a true bypass like Input 3.
For the most accurate passthrough operation with an external preamp, we still recommend using Input 3 (single-ended AUX) as this is the only input designed for that purpose.
Please also use caution when experimenting with volume matching to avoid excessive gain into your speakers.
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Thank you for your response!