What is a passive preamp?

and you were surely joking when you said a preamp had to have a phono stage?

Since most preamps (even active ones) in normal operation are usually used to reduce the signal level, not increase it, shouldn't they really be called pre-attenuators?

No- Because they have the capability of amplifying(adding gain to) the signal. In some countries they are referred to as a, "control Amp." That is, perhaps, a more accurate description.

Not true Herman, only passive devices are used to attenuate. A preamp or linestage amplifies the signal. Therefore they are actually amplifiers in their own right. Which is the reason a passive device lacks dynamics in most instances. By the way, we had a good laugh at the stereo shop where I work about your comment that a preamp is called so because it comes before the amp. And yes, technically a preamp is not a preamp without a phono stage. Most people call linestages preamps including myself but they are not. You can call them bicycles or anything you want but that doesn't make it correct.

ARC(see the LS-26 page), Lamm, Levinson, Edge, Van Alstine, Herron, Joule-Electra, Conrad-Johnson, Aesthetics, Musical Fidelity, Ayre (to name a few) If you visit the sites of the manufacturers I've named: You'll note they ALL refer to their preamplifiers AS SUCH, whether the have a phono section or not. Most don't even offer one as an option. If the people that build them can call them preamps: I suppose I can as well.

Sorry Mr. Wear, you are incorrect. Here's a lesson for you and your giggling buddies at the stereo shop.. The signal coming out of a typical CD player or other line level source is enough to drive most amplifiers way past clipping. Therefore, even an active preamp in most systems outputs a signal that is less than the input signal at reasonable volume levels.. This is called attenuation. I would think someone who works in a stereo shop would know this.

Amother lesson for you. Some active preamps at maximum output do not amplify the signal. They have a gain of 0db and sometimes just a bit less. The active stage is used as a buffer between the source and the amp. To call them preamps would then be incorrect by your definition

As far as I know there is no legislative body that decides what words like preamp "technically" mean. Why are you so adamant it must contain a phono stage? Even your example of AR as a refrence fell on it's face since they call all of their's preamps whether they have a phono stage or not. If I and many others prefer the definition that it is the device before the amplifier that contains the volume control then how can you prove us wrong?

I will venture a guess that you are old enough that you remember when CDs did not exist. If not, here's another lesson for you. In that era most if not all preamps did contain a phono stage. When CDs caught on and many had only a CD player as a source manufacturers came out with preamps that did not have a phono. To distinquish them from those that do they coined the term line stage and some started calling those that did have phono a full function preamp, but if you like the definition that a preamp is the amplifier before the amplifier then line stages certainly fit right in.