Are passive preamps better?

I am using a Preeminance 1A passive ahead of Atma-sphere M-60 II.3 with the best results in my system to my ears thus far. The actives I have used (Cary, Sonic Frontiers, BottleHead, Musical Fidelity) imparted a color to the sound peculiar to each preamp that I only noticed due to the tranparency of the passive.

I would equate it to prefering water to drink over soda. Water is quenching and ulimately satisfying where as soda is great at first but leaves you with a thirst and an after taste that may not be pleasant.

Perhaps I do not understand what is meant by dynamics. My passive preamp/Atmasphere setup seems to have great dynamics to me.

By dymamics is it the range from high to low and speed in shifting from point to point in that range?

Or is it something else?