IME the one thing that passives have over the actives I've had is transparency -- that 'air' between instruments and voices. Contributing to this is that there are no active electronics so noise floor is lower as well.
It seems like it comes down to body vs transparency in most of these arguments. I am using a Promitheus Ref TVC since most of what i read about passives is that TVC's are superior and play nicer with others then other passive variants.
For the record, i love my TVC. it doesn't seem to suffer, to my ears, to the lack of body argument. What I do run into is lack of gain. This has to do with the other components in my system, including 87db sensitive speakers, but it can be an issue as is well documented.
It seems like it comes down to body vs transparency in most of these arguments. I am using a Promitheus Ref TVC since most of what i read about passives is that TVC's are superior and play nicer with others then other passive variants.
For the record, i love my TVC. it doesn't seem to suffer, to my ears, to the lack of body argument. What I do run into is lack of gain. This has to do with the other components in my system, including 87db sensitive speakers, but it can be an issue as is well documented.