Passive preamp w/Rogue Medusa and Rega DAC

To get the same transparency and gorgeous sound you could spend thousands on an expensive pre-amp or spend a few hundred for the Lightspeed. It all depends on how much you like to throw away your money. I personally like money and LOVE my Lightspeed.

If you need a remote, a Tortuga LDR passive is the way to go. I had one in my system for a couple weeks and I was very impressed.

Thanks for the great responses on this thread. I definitely want to try a passive. I have arranged to borrow a simple volume pot to put in my system to see if the gain is sufficient. If it is, then I will pursue a better one to try out.

I would love to try the Lightspeed but my listening room is in the family room so a remote is essential.

The concept of the passive makes so much sense. In my case, the preamp is not in the same class as the rest of the gear so the benefits could be substantial.

Sruffle, where are you located? You might get someone close by to hook up a lightspeed to your set up to see if you like it or not... Just a thought.

The remote control issue bothers me and can be a pain sometimes. At times, I set the volume and leave it. Other times I get volume ADD, and thank George for introducing some sort of physical activity into this hobby besides moving speakers an inch, daily.

I'm working on some sort of remote control device... Rubber band around the volume knob connected to a servo? There's got to be a way to make something remote controlled to move the volume knob.

I've had a few customers who have taken it on themselves to add their own remote volume controls to their Lightspeed Attenuators, like these aftermarket ones.

[url]http://www.ebay.com/sch/Consumer-Electronics-/293/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=Remote+volume+control[/url]

[url]http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALPS-Remote-Motor-Volume-Potentiometer-Control-Adjustment-4CH-50KA-/331214708402?pt=US_Amplifier_Parts_Components&hash=item4d1def5eb2[/url]

They can be coarse in their action. And the remote buttons don't last.
I cannot afford to use them as for me they're just not reliable enough especially the hand sets.
With the Lightspeed being very reliable as it is, and at the low shipped price it is, I don't need or can afford to have returns coming back because of these after market remotes, from companies that look like their here today gone tomorrow, then spare parts become a problem as well.

The only companies that make good quality ones are the big boys Sony, Yamaha, Panasonic, ect and you cannot get these quality ones for the small manufaturers like me.

Cheers George