Passive Preamps

[Steve Williams]

I remember several years ago when passive preamps such as Placette were all the rage whereas now I just don't seem to hear people talking about them

I seem to remember that Mike Lavigne had a Placette that he raved about.

I also remember the issue that if a passive preamp is used it needs short interconnects in the system.

Anyone here using a passive preamp and what are your thoughts

[rblnr]

Was lent one of these:

http://www.mfaudio.co.uk/classic.htm

Transparent as might be expected, but doesn't seem to drive my ARC 210 amps. Have a Bel Canto DAC3 at the moment too -- it works as an active preamp as well as a DAC and mates much better to the ARCs.

[KeithR]

apparently the Steve McCormack passive preamp is VERY good. i know someone who has replaced some very high end preamps with it. problem is it was like 7k when it came out and now is 14k. ridiculous.

[KeithR]

and maybe not passive---but i have considered buying a Berkeley Audio DAC and running it direct into my Shindo amplifier. although, i do really enjoy my Bryston dac.

my favorite system i had back in the day was a Wadia direct into tube amp---Steve, similar to your Krell KPS direct.

[Steve Williams]

and maybe not passive---but i have considered buying a Berkeley Audio DAC and running it direct into my Shindo amplifier. although, i do really enjoy my Bryston dac.

my favorite system i had back in the day was a Wadia direct into tube amp---Steve, similar to your Krell KPS direct.

I remember it well

[Bjorn]

The Lightspeed Attenuator sold by an australian guy has received a lot of applause lately.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~georgehifi/
The cost is $470 which includes international shipping.

Part of the challenge with a passive pre is the impedance match. From what I understand, if this is not matched properly the sound will lack dynamics and sound lean. Another challenge is of course the fact that the sound becomes more transparent and faults in the system will then be more revealed. This may be the reason why people actually prefer some distortion.

[Seta]

I recently got the Malaysian made EVA2 passive LDR preamp after reading several reviews. Similar in concept as The Lightspeed Attenuator but with remote control and source selection. They are very good indeed.

[flez007]

I had my passive preamp time some years back, I tried a lot ranking from the very good and inexpensive Axiom to the best I had (a First Sound) modified by Emmanuel himself.

At the end I always had some lack of dynamics and punch compared with having an active preamp, I ran at least three power amps (CJ Premier 8A, Pass Labs X 250 and Audio Note P4s).

Now I am back to integrateds where I belong

[jazdoc]

I've got a Slagle Autoformer in my system now while I await my new Experience Music Line stage. It's pretty good!

[amirm]

Sources are designed for active pre-amps. Most if not all lack the drive to handle the load that these pre-amps put on them. The dynamics suffer the most and distortion increases.

One thought might be to use sources with balanced outs. Those have much higher drive given the larger voltage swings that balanced interconnect brings.