Passive or active

[jasbirnandra]

Is a good passive Pre something like bespoke better than an Active Pre do we really need the gain an active pre offers

 

[Folsom]

Not all actives have gain. Gain is often a secondary function.

 

[sickophant]

You'll be happy either way.

 

[microstrip]

. I own an excellent general purpose passive - Audio Synthesis original Passion all Visahy resistors using an high quality commutator, but every time an adequate active preamplfier resulted in better sound quality than the passive.

IMHO designers could easily (at an extra cost, surely...) incorporate the sound quality due to an extra preamplifier in their amplifier chassis. Unfortunately the preamplifier section of most integrated amplifiers is limited by cost, and perhaps size, constraints.

 

[sickophant]

My own experience with passives is a Music First "Classic" (why, oh why, do manufacturers continue to turn to this word for a name ...), a very little box with beautifully hand-wound transformers and simply tap their coils at measured steps taking volume control instructions from the user when selecting these coil taps via 24 steps of volume control.

It's a very sweet sounding pre too, no slouch.

I also asked them to wind mine exclusively in silver having found my taste for this metal's sound presentation, just as a side note.

 

[JayR]

I used the Placette passive preamp for about 10 years. Great transparency and clarity. Never really lacked in dynamics which is a common complaint with passives. You have to have good impedance matching with an amp though. I think high input impedance amps are preferred.

Edit: Funny... I just visited the PlacetteAudio website. Clarity and Transparency are the exact words they use to describe the passive. I can attest to it from experience.

 

[kernelbob]

Is a good passive Pre something like bespoke better than an Active Pre do we really need the gain an active pre offers

I highly recommend the Tortuga passives. They use light dependent resistors (LDRs) instead of arrays of resistors or transformers. A key attribute is that there are no switches or potentiometers in the signal path, and of course no capacitors.

I've used active preamps (both tubes and solid state) and various passive controllers. The passive devices always lacked power and puch in the bass as well as "leaning" the sound. When I compared a Tortuga LDRxB with my (then) current Audio Research REF3, the Tortuga was better in every way.

Stage width is extremely wde as well as deep. Dynamics are even better. Bass has all the power, extension, and punch of any preamp that I've heard. Most importantly, the timbre of instruments is strikingly defined.

All functions can be controlled from a remote including variable input impedance, from 1 to 99k per on single ended units or per phase on the balanced units. My LDRxB includes polarity/phase inversion control, also from the remote. Calibration of the LDRs can even be performed from the remote, so LDR drift is a non-issue.

Lastly, their price is a bargain.

Best,
Robert

 

[olivier]

i also like the Tortuga. i do own the LDR.V2 and it has a very realistic and dynamic sound.
but at the moment i prefer my spectral dmc 30 ss, which has a bit more punch and speed (but this is the only pre i heard until now which has more speed).
i think it is a matter of taste amd actual i like the speed
With a passive pre it is important, that the output impedance of your source (DAC, CD player, phono pre) is much lower than the input impedance of your power amp
Best
Olivier

 

[Ohlins]

I'm using Tortuga balanced LDR .... highly recommended ....