Placette RVC vs. Adcom GFP-750 in passive mode

my Placette RVC is passive. i have not tried the Placette active pre; Guy Hummel (Mr. Placette) says that his active sounds better than his passive.

why might the active be better? i would guess that many/most systems can benefit from some advantages to active. most systems do not have ideal impedence situations, cable lengths, or the natural tonal balance, dynmaics and weight that an active pre can bring. OTOH if a system is just right in these areas an active pre will 'get in the way' of the musicial message 'to some degree'.

can all systems benefit from active? maybe the 'right' active. until i try a Placette active i'm just guessing here.

read my last few posts on my system thread by clicking on 'system' next to my name below for what i think the darTZeel does better than the Placette (and everything else i've tried).

I have owned the Placette Active Line Stage for about 4 years now and before that, had the Adcom GFP-750 that I used in passive mode. I can assure you that the Placette is far and away better than the Adcom GFP-750 in passive mode - much more detail, spaciousness and tighter, more refined bass. My guess is that the Placette's Vishay resistor volume attenuator scheme is much more transparent than the Adcom's rotary control. Do yourself a favor and get the Placette. To address Machine's query: The Placette Active Line Stage is not really active in the conventional sense - it has no gain. It is "active" because it employs active parts to buffer the inputs and output. The buffering allows for a better impedance match to other components that are connected to the unit. This results in an easy load, as seen by the source components and interconnects.

Thanks for everyones comments!
Happy Listening!
John

I guess I got lucky and my pieces just all seem to work together. A friend who bought my speakers (Merlin;MM's) just bought the Adcom.((Ok, I got all his money!!)) I tried to steer him to the Placette. He lives to far away to know if his "pieces" would be ideal/or not. I just remembered the review said it was quite good for the money.Then I couldn't remember what mode they thought was best. My friend is a beginer,so he's happy. At this point I think he is unsure of active/passive quality. Never having owned this Adcom,I couldn't help to much. (Is part of why I entered this thread)--(Owning the Placett,being the other part) I actually sent him my Arcam 27 as a loaner as he had nothing else even half decent to use for cds.