I've had the TLC-1 and currently own the RLD-1 with two DNA.5 Rev A (one is Rev A Gold).
For the price, the RLD-1 is an exceptional performer, versatile and well made. It won't give you a tube sound (I'll tell you how to get that later), but it is neutral and does a everything you need a preamp to do with no major weaknesses. The digital volume control is something you can easily become addicted to and two sets of outputs make bi-amping easy without using a Y-connector. It also has a theatre pass mode for easy integration into a home theatre setup.
My cost-no-object criticisms would be that it is not as dead quiet as the TLC-1 (probably due to the digital volume control) and you lose just a hair of transparency and soundstaging. Of course, I haven't heard an active preamp under $3k that doesn't have the same issues compared to the TLC-1. None of these differences are dramatic and are trumped by the RLD-1's overall better communication of the music's soul.
There's a reason that you don't see many passive preamps. They only work great if alot of other factors are optimal (i.e. cd output, cable capacitance, cable length, amp matching, etc.). In addition, the type of music you listen to may not suit a passive preamps strengths. With your Maggie's, a passive preamp maybe ultra-revealing, but a little too sterile.
Either way you go, I would highly recommend that you leave enough room in your budget down-the-road to have your DNA rev A upgraded to the the Gold version. In particular, the Plitron toroid transformer and soft recovery diode upgrades are incredible improvements. They do exactly what Steve McCormack says on the website. I was stunned at how smooth and tubelike it sounds without any of the tube tradeoffs. That combination with your Maggie's would be killer. Good luck
For the price, the RLD-1 is an exceptional performer, versatile and well made. It won't give you a tube sound (I'll tell you how to get that later), but it is neutral and does a everything you need a preamp to do with no major weaknesses. The digital volume control is something you can easily become addicted to and two sets of outputs make bi-amping easy without using a Y-connector. It also has a theatre pass mode for easy integration into a home theatre setup.
My cost-no-object criticisms would be that it is not as dead quiet as the TLC-1 (probably due to the digital volume control) and you lose just a hair of transparency and soundstaging. Of course, I haven't heard an active preamp under $3k that doesn't have the same issues compared to the TLC-1. None of these differences are dramatic and are trumped by the RLD-1's overall better communication of the music's soul.
There's a reason that you don't see many passive preamps. They only work great if alot of other factors are optimal (i.e. cd output, cable capacitance, cable length, amp matching, etc.). In addition, the type of music you listen to may not suit a passive preamps strengths. With your Maggie's, a passive preamp maybe ultra-revealing, but a little too sterile.
Either way you go, I would highly recommend that you leave enough room in your budget down-the-road to have your DNA rev A upgraded to the the Gold version. In particular, the Plitron toroid transformer and soft recovery diode upgrades are incredible improvements. They do exactly what Steve McCormack says on the website. I was stunned at how smooth and tubelike it sounds without any of the tube tradeoffs. That combination with your Maggie's would be killer. Good luck