Placette RVC review in Stereophile


There is a brief review of the Placette Remote Volume Control in the June '04 issue of Stereophile that might be of interest to some folks here. The Passive and Active linestages are also mentioned. It's good see some more recognition for the company in print.
eagle
What got me about the review was its length. On the one hand, there's not too much to say about something this simple to use. On the other, there have been reviews of other passive stuff in the past that have been much more detailed than this one.
The fellow really didn't go into much detail. He mentions dynamics early on but really doesn't elaborate. I felt it left me wanting a little more detail on the sound.
This looked like a filler article to me. It also reminded me of the short TAS reviews. Sort of the abridged versions or abstracts.
Stereophile did a short one like that on the VTL MB-450s a few months ago. I got the impression they do these on products they like that have been around awhile and have already been reviewed.
i agree that the review in question is quite short. but i believe that the point of the review was that this unit is so cheap (and has a 30 day money back policy) that you can't afford no to try it (assuming you can use short interconnects from the RVC to your amps) considering it's amazing performance.

his point on dynamics was that he percieved 'trade-offs' but not necessarily shortcomings. in some cases an active pre will allow more bass slam but at the expense of articulation and speed. so far i prefer the overall dynamic performance of the Placette to any active pre (with the possible exception of the CTC Blowtorch).

i have used the Placette RVC for over 2 years. to my ears, in my system, it has clearly bettered EVERY active preamp i have tried (6 or 7 mostly in the $10k to $15k range) without dynamic shortcommings (except compared to the CTC Blowtorch). i have also compared the RVC to other passives (including transformer and autoformer based) and preferred the RVC clearly (except the Silver Rock which had sonic tradeoffs but also no remote).

if your system has a natural balance without the need for the added 'something' that EVERY active pre adds.....you need to try the Placette. that 'added something' gets between me and the music.....at least to my ears.