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I used to think passive preamps were superior to active preamps given right the setup, but

my recent evaluation of a modded old SS preamp has me a little befuddled.  I've evaluated $10K+ active preamps in the past and was never impressed especially given their cost.  In general, I've found passives to do better job. I know there's ongoing debate on this.  But here's a very illuminating video on the subject by Bascom King, one of the legends of high end audio.

https://youtu.be/HHl8F9amyY4
dracule1
milpai's avatar
milpai
2,435 posts
 
I am saying this specifically for TVC. I have said this many times and will repeat again. You need to make sure that a TVC should have a MATCHING system. You really need to look into the source voltage, amplifier sensitivity, loudspeaker sensitivity, cables, etc for your system to "come alive" with the TVC. If you have taken good care, then it is really difficult to beat a well made TVC. Years back I heard that the "core" of the TVC also made a difference. From my personal experience I have compared my $1.6K TVC to a $4K active preamp and the preamp went back to the dealer. I have plenty gain in my system and absolutely have no issues with bass or treble. At this point, my speakers go down to only 40Hz. I am looking forward to upgrade to a loudspeaker that goes down to at least 30Hz. I am sure that my TVC can easily handle that.
dracule1 OP
1,085 posts
 
System matching with passive pre is critical indeed. It can make or break the sound.  You really don't have to worry about that with an active pre, which I find so convenient and much less of a headache. 
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

dracule1 System matching with passive pre is critical indeed. It can make or break the sound


You are right dracule, but lets get the "critical matching" in perspective

We (most of passive users) are after nirvana, that’s why we persist with passives and get the impedance matching right "makes the sound". Which by the way in 99% of systems is a great impedance match.

Except for some tube output sources which have ridiculous high output impedance (more than >1kohm). Or some ClassD amp that are very low input impedance (less than <10kohms). These users usually find something wrong with the sound of passives, and say active preamps are better, oblivious to the fact that they had an impedance mismatch with the passive they used.


Cheers George

paul79
174 posts
 
I used to like passive preamps, DAC's direct to amps..... That was until I got a good tube preamp. Now there is no going back.
paul79
174 posts
 
Oh dracule1, what is this vintage preamp you are speaking of?
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