Can ZMACS be connected to a preamplifier?

Stage & Studio ZMACS
1

such as a SYN2, VHT, or GP3 preamplifier?

2

@wxgboy2026

Hi and welcome to the forum.

If you let me know a bit more about your intended application I can help.

ZMACS is for sending a single guitar signal to up to 4 amps and 4 cabs in any combination.

It has a guitar-level input on the front panel (and back panel), so it is not really designed to work with line-level signals such as those generated from pre-amps.

3

Okay.

My setup consists of two Synergy SYN2 and one VHT GP3, one Mesa 412 speaker and one Peavey Invective 412 speaker, and one PS100 attenuator.

That’s my current setup.

4

OK, So you would like 2x2 routing options: route SYN2 and VHT GPT preamps to either the Mesa 4x12 or the Peavey 4x12 using the PS-100 as the power amp?

The problem is this will not work because there is no return to the FROM AMP OUTPUT JACKS

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Please standby… I am working on an idea with the Cyclops…

5

Okay. I look forward to your good news.

If this function cannot be implemented, I wonder if any new devices will be developed in the future that can achieve this function?

6

Hi,

I need to stress that the following type of operation can be dangerous, and you should never connect preamps and amplifier outputs together in the ZMACS signal path. Mixing preamps and power amps in this configuration can potentially damage connected equipment.

If you are working strictly with preamps ONLY (no amp speaker outputs connected anywhere in the system), there may be a way to make this function.

The possible setup would be:

  1. Plug the Power Station FX Return into the Unswitched Attenuator Loop Send.
  2. Plug an empty jack or cable into the Unswitched Attenuator Loop Return. This breaks the connection to the impedance matching transformer.
  3. Plug the preamp line outputs into the From Amp Output Returns so those signals are routed to the Power Station.

One thing to be aware of is that the preamp line outputs will be loaded down by an impedance slightly below 10k due to the amp direct output circuitry remaining in the signal path. Depending on the preamp, this may or may not work well. In some cases, the signal could lose low-end response or otherwise sound compromised.

Because of this, I cannot guarantee performance or compatibility with all preamps in this configuration.

Julian

1 Like
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@wxgboy2026 I asked Julian if he would comment.., he might have a cunning plan