2. amps-preamps
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Who is using passive preamps and why?

Seldom has there been any discussions on passive preamps in the forums and although my experience with them has been limited I have found them so far to be very enjoyable and refreshingly different. They seem to fall into their own category, somewhere between solid state and tube. Finding a preamp that is satisfing has been difficult. Some active solid state preamps can be very good but they seem to inject grain to some degree in the upper registers and some tube preamps are not too far behind. So far I think they should at least be matched up with an amp that has sufficient gain which is often overlooked. Which passives are you using and with what amp? Why do you like them?
phd
cerrot's avatar
cerrot
1,700 posts
 
I think the key advntage of a passive (in the right system) over an active is it's not changing/distorting the
signal.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Sure, it is close to a straight wire. But, they must also have a disadvantage. Alber Porter wend from Placette to DarTzeel, but why? What does a great active linestage do that the passive can't? The answer is straigtfoward when it is an issue of needing gain or impedance matching, but he did not seem to need either in his original set up. However, I'm interested in getting some insight into the resistor versus transformer issue, on the assumption that most all of us are in no need of gain for our sources and that our amps are sensitive with fairly high input impedance.
ngjockey
1,042 posts
 
You all are making this appear much too complicated. I've plugged my TVC into a few friends systems and always had impressive and consistent results. I've changed amps and sources. I currently have a far from ideal load with long IC's, a 10K Zin hi-pass and parallel low-pass/bass amp. A mismatch seems to be the exception I haven't run across and I've seen some unexpected active component or amp/speaker mismatches.

I have played with a couple DIY attenuators but not as a system volume control. One was for a biamp system to control gain and the other replaced a pot in an active preamp. Probably dissuaded by the negative reviews. The TVC was a fairly cheap experiment that I didn't expect to work and, if I had believed some of the "experts", shouldn't work. There's a story but I would rather not mention names. It was a DIY project and it even worked well when I had it wired wrong. That's another story, not for A'gon.

Many of the RVC/attenuators have had a fairly low 10K Zin but, recently, there are more options for higher impedance up to 100K.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Yes, Goldpoint seems to offer a range of Zin ratings, but have no idea how that effects the Zout or what would optimal for a 100kohm load. I like the "idea" of an RVC, it just seems a lot of less complicated with less wire and iron that the transformer approach. Where is Aball when you need him?
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Just bought an Goldpoint SA1 25kohm volume control. Proabably a more direct assessment than talk. Phd, see what you started:)
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