I'm surprised that it was't more evenly balanced between those for and those against an active preamp. I reached as high in actives as a CAT SL-1 III with factory-simplified signal path, and found it clearly inferior, for CD play, to a DIY passive involving Holco resistors, Shallco resistors, good connectors and internal wire. If you want to make your own for around $400, let me know thru Member Lookup. You could also check out the DIY section of www.goldpt.com, where Arn Roatcap explains passive options clearly, with a schematic for a maximally complex passive preamp. It's very likely that you could be completely happy with a simpler one.
Why a line preamp?
It's been my understanding that the best component is a straight wire. Further, before the the advent of the phono a preamp was not required. All that was needed was a volume control. Now with the reduced usage of the phono we find we must have the line stage preamp. Where's the straight wire philosphy? Why do we need anything more than a volume control and selector switch? Today I connected my McIntosh tuner directly into my amp since the tuner does have a volume control. It sounded better.