I am a very strong proponent for passive attenuation. I have had some very well reviewed and expensive active linestages and I always end up coming back to the passives.
In my situation I have sources with high output and I am able to keep my cable runs very short (1m or less) and I also use unshielded cable from source to passive and passive to amps. I also have high sensitivity speakers so system gain is not an issue at all for me.
I currently have a couple TVC units, a buffer and the lightspeed attenuator....none cost me more than $750 used and IMO, in my system and based on my taste they perform as well or better than the several $10k-$18k active linestages I have owned or tried.
They genrally don't have the flexibility and/or cache but they provide what I feel a linestage should as well or better than anything else I have had.
YMMV but if you haven't explored this route and your system and needs spec out to be compatible with a passive, I strongly encourage you to try this route. The risk is low and the rewards potentially very high
In my situation I have sources with high output and I am able to keep my cable runs very short (1m or less) and I also use unshielded cable from source to passive and passive to amps. I also have high sensitivity speakers so system gain is not an issue at all for me.
I currently have a couple TVC units, a buffer and the lightspeed attenuator....none cost me more than $750 used and IMO, in my system and based on my taste they perform as well or better than the several $10k-$18k active linestages I have owned or tried.
They genrally don't have the flexibility and/or cache but they provide what I feel a linestage should as well or better than anything else I have had.
YMMV but if you haven't explored this route and your system and needs spec out to be compatible with a passive, I strongly encourage you to try this route. The risk is low and the rewards potentially very high