Have Passive Preamps Finally Come of Age?


Back in the late 90s (eons ago) I tried a variety of passive preamps (PPs). The most musical was an autoformer, but back then my system was not balanced. For the last decade I have been using active preamps, both tube and solid state, but finding a quality balanced preamp under $4K is damn near impossible. Enter the Parasound P5 (2.1), which in addition to having balanced I/Os, it has a separate bass management circuit (MSRP $1095), and I was hoping it would provide better control over the built in class D plates incorporated into my 2 SVS powered subs, whose volume controls are STUPIDLY sensitive: when barely cracked from zero they overwhelm. Alas, no bueno. 

Recently i watched a PS Audio YT video that was emphatic about NOT connecting powered subs with interconnects; instead he recommends speaker cables piggybacked off the main systems amp/s. I had a spare set of DIY flat copper cables, and was shocked how much better they sounded, but doing so did not change the  volume control problem and unfortunately this id not bypass the SVS amps whose class D chips are now ancient. Thinking there could be an impedance problem led me to revisit PPs.

I sold my P5 and was using the XLR outs from my Oppo 105 (upgraded power supply and IEC/wiring to the power supply) direct to my Emerald Physics 100.2SEs (class D). The noise floor dropped tremendously, allowing me a much better view into the music. My Core Power Technologies 1800 PLC had more than a little to do with this, but...  

Days of PP research later, I came across LDRs, which seem like the ultimate PP option, but XLR versions are ~ $2K and up, with the Tortuga coming in at $2700, seems like a true SOTA bargain, just not in my current budget. Scouring the' for sale' sites I came across a Hattor XLR (MSRP $995) which was in my price range. Hattor's www had links to 2 reviews both were extremely positive: one used it in combination with a class D amp. Bingo! I snapped it up.

It arrived late yesterday, although Hattor's www pictures look awesome, they do not compare to seeing and touching it. The metal carrying case was an indication of the designer's dedication. This is an etremely well made piece of kit, but how does it sound? Alas it came with no manual and Hattor's site does not have a PDF. How hard can it be to hook up? Well, after a couple scary minutes, I discovered that it would not light up until I connected the 105. 

Stone cold, the first thing that shocked me was a further reduction in noise floor and an incredibly wide and deep sound stage, but as can be expected, it was dry. Fingers crossed, in about a half hour I began to be rewarded with texture as well. Tis only got better as the night wore on

I hope somebody chimes in with their Tortuga experience, or any other high quality PP information.that goes under the reporting radar. 
tweak1
@ tweak1
yes. Modern gears should have not such kind of noise, especially If balanced. Could be exception with phono when good cartridge and wiring are very “sensitive” to any kind of noise. It is importsnt also to ensure correct impedance matching between gears and accurate wiring. Let’s start with only pre-amplifier and amplifier ... are they from same brand ? There are quality cables ? There is noise in the loudspeakers? If I there is low “pink noise” we could accept but with volume knob between 3/4 and 4/4. If there is a monotone noise we have a problem. Then connect one gear for time and verify. Once again only exception could be the phono (at reasonable level). 
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Have Passive Preamps Finally Come of Age?


Passive preamps are coming of age, not because of themselves, but because the sources today can do the job 90% of the time without the need of active preamps, and in many cases better, in some cases without the need of passives also if the source has it’s own volume control, which is becoming more and more the norm.
  
I see active expensive pre’s as a bit of a dinosaur slowly becoming extinct, far cheaper more transparent/dynamic passives as an interim move, before all sources have their own volume control.
But switching between sources will have to be worked out, but you definitely don’t need a mega dollar preamp to do a source switching job, a $100 dollar switch box can do that.

Cheers George
One way to find out which you like better (i.e., pure passive or passive with an active buffer circuit) would be to purchase the Hattor or Tortuga passive and then add their buffer.  Tortuga offers a 30-day return policy in the event you like the sound better without the buffer.
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