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Who is using passive preamps and why?

Seldom has there been any discussions on passive preamps in the forums and although my experience with them has been limited I have found them so far to be very enjoyable and refreshingly different. They seem to fall into their own category, somewhere between solid state and tube. Finding a preamp that is satisfing has been difficult. Some active solid state preamps can be very good but they seem to inject grain to some degree in the upper registers and some tube preamps are not too far behind. So far I think they should at least be matched up with an amp that has sufficient gain which is often overlooked. Which passives are you using and with what amp? Why do you like them?
phd
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,400 posts
 
Passives are wimpy sounding...
chazzbo
1,007 posts
 
Yeah TVC,Placette,whatever passive is passive and you lack dynamics and bass that you can get out of decent pre.Still some folks cup of tea not mine having had one.Think amp matching is essential.Maybe the best hybrid of two ideas was Placette active.Look it up.
Chazz
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Why? A lot of bang for the buck. Why not? Good actives still sound better to my ears, an others, in more systems. But you can undoubtedy have SOTA with a passive approach, but you might prefer the flavoring provided by actives, especially with tubes.
violin
120 posts
 
Phd, I once had a Placette passive preamp for several years after previously using active tube preamps, I got rid of it and went back to active tubes, why? Because I agree with some of what has been stated above, the lack of deep base, not nearly as dynamic, and everything started to sound the same IMHO. Also the amp to be used with one, needs to have a low voltage input for full output in order to match well with a passive.
I have a Herron Audio VTSP-3 preamp which to my ears is musical, quiet and dynamic and it's tonality is as true to the instrument or voice as any preamp that I have heard or tried. I suggest that you try one before you make any decision to go passive. See if you can borrow a demo from a dealer because it does take time to break in. I do not think that you would be disappointed.
All the best.
Carter
phd OP
1,285 posts
 
Violin, could you use a sub with a passive to deliver the needed deep bass or would that defeat the main purpose for using a passive to begin with? I noticed some integrated amps, both tube and solid state use a passive pre, seems like it could take the guess-work out of matching separates.
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