Passive vs. active preamps

I too have monoblock amps. I also have a passive pre-amp. I have read on Nordost's home page that you should use short interconnects and long speaker cables. Their reasoning being that the speaker cables carry much higher power. This of course contradicts the monoblock setup convention. I have also heard that longer speaker cables sound better. So many opinions... I have not yet purchased good cables. I would prefer to keep the monoblocks on the side of the room rather than next to the speakers. I will be purchasing nordost cables and interconnects. John

I have had a passive preamp for the past six years, and I have to tell you that they are very transparent. BUT, after a point I felt that they are also a flat and lacking that 3D quality the real music has. I have just purchased an Audible Illusions Modulus 3A with all the latest upgrades and for the first time in 6 years love the way my system sounds. Good Luck.

If you already have an active preamp that you're very happy with, then there's no harm in building a passive one, especially if you can do it on the cheap. I don't expect that you'll discover anything about passives that isn't already known, however. IF YOUR SYSTEM IS ALREADY TOO DYNAMIC (if that's possible), then a passive preamp might "tame" this. It will very likely sound more "transparent" than most affordable active preamps, and if "detail retrieval" is what you want more than "realistic dynamics", then GO FOR IT...I'm a firm believer in active preamps.

I have both active and passive preamps and drive monoblocks with short interconnects. Carl eber above nails the difference. My only caveat is that a passive attenuator like http://www.tweakaudio.com/ or and Adcom costs A LOT less than a reference preamp. So in my opinion if you are upgrading over time I would use the passive as a way to stretch my dollars.

I've often thought about building a passive preamp, but so many items are going thru my system now that I couldn't spare the time. Then there are my speaker projects...