consensus on passive preamps?

I have both a passive and active (in 2 different systems in the house). Passive can be very very good, but it does require more effort in component matching. You can get very poor results with passive when components are not selected carefully. Also, cables and long interconnects, as mentioned can create problems seldom seen in active pre-amps. Lastly, passives rarely have the ergonomics and features of actives--due to their necessary simplified circuitry. This can be fine for certain applications, but really doesn't work for others. In the end--the final verdict--both can work well. Passive can provide better sonic value for the same (and much less $), but with the caveats mentioned.

Thanks alot for the thoughtful and enlightening responses.
For the price I'm paying the experiment should be fun.
The DAC which will be providing the output voltage can be tune up to provide 5v of output power. (Normal is 2.5v)

Of course it's really not a preamp if it is passive.

You are correct. In truth the passive unit is nothing more than a potentiometer or simply a manual voltage regulator.

One of my DAC's has the option of running line level out to a preamp or through a stepped passive attenuator system. Since the DAC was built to produce 4 volts of output, lack of drive when going passive is not a problem. I've tried it both ways within the same system. Only difference that i could tell was that i had greater versatility in terms of being able to switch inputs and volume levels with the preamp in the system. This tells me that this preamp is doing exactly what it was designed to do: select the input and pass the signal as it receives it.

Other than that, my experience basically mirrors most of the other comments. Passive systems are harder to set up and typically lack bottom end warmth and overall dynamics. Not my cup of tea but that doesn't mean that others don't like it or prefer it over an active preamp. Knowing Tom's level of "tweaking experience", i'm sure that his system might change my mind about the whole subject. Sean
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