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
Post removed 
My conclusion is that someone else designed the Lightspeed for you.
You really need to look before you leap, this statement really shows your real worth.

I don't even know why you bother posting on a "passive preamps"  thread when you don't make them or don't believe in them. 
All I can think you're only here to denigrate them as best you can, because your trying "product protect" your own commercial stuff, because they are making a big dent in your sales.  
Jay23 8-3-2018
I was referring to George and Ralph’s technical discussion on the last page (3), and not the whole thread and topic.
Sorry I misunderstood. Upon re-reading that page of the thread I believe you are referring to statements by Ralph such as:

Atmasphere 7-27-2018
If the circuit only has to do 2 volts but can make much more, its distortion can thus be kept extremely low- to the point that its difficult to measure.

This is why many active preamps have such low distortion, because they are operated well below their limits. This is just good engineering.
and by George such as:

Georgehifi 7-27-2018

Any source that has been designed to give out 2v has been done so to be done to do so in it’s most linear state, you would be a fool to do otherwise, unlike what Ralph will have you believe.
On that particular point I agree with Ralph 100%. And in fact a very common means of assuring that "any source that has been designed to give out 2v has been done so to be done to do so in it’s most linear state" [quoting George] is to design in exactly the manner Ralph described, providing a good deal more voltage swing capability than will actually be necessary. Also, consistent with that, a few posts prior to their exchange on that issue I had commented as follows:

Almarg 7-27-2018
... if a preamp’s output stage is just operating over a small fraction of the voltage range it is capable of operating over, the result in many and perhaps most cases will be that linearity and hence distortion are a bit better than if it were operating closer to its limits.

Regards,
-- Al

migueca91 posts08-04-2018 7:30amTisbury Audio passive preamplifier.


Very nicely thought out for the price, with -10db and -20db gain dip switch ability for high gain systems, and output dip switch for configuration. Just click on the photos. And they picked the right value to go with 10kohm, which suits most systems.

http://www.tisburyaudio.co.uk/mini-passive-preamplifier

Cheers George

 
almarg

And Al, a source that gives out 2v is always going to give it out, even if you shunt half of it to ground because you don’t need it, because you have more gain to make it back up in the active preamp.
So the distortion from the source "whatever it is remains the same", it does not change because you’ve decided not to use half of it and shunted the other half to ground.
If anything shunting more of it to ground "could" make it distort more.

Cheers George