Pick the lowest hanging fruit first...
Passives are pretty cheap and if your system likes it, almost unbeatable.
IME, it is extremely difficult to find a transparent active preamp, I have tried a lot and they all add to the sound too much, or take too much away from the music.
If you want to go active be prepared to spend a lot of money to get a transparent design.
A couple of suggestions: I have a B1 active no gain preamp from First watt, I cannot tell the difference with a passive preamp, which says a lot! No gain, but high output impedance so it turns out it has less drive than a passive...
Placette Active and passives are great.
The Best active preamps I have listened to are The Essential, and the top of the line Metaxas preamp. Amazing both of them and they clearly beat a passive in most ways, including transparency.
Passives are pretty cheap and if your system likes it, almost unbeatable.
IME, it is extremely difficult to find a transparent active preamp, I have tried a lot and they all add to the sound too much, or take too much away from the music.
If you want to go active be prepared to spend a lot of money to get a transparent design.
A couple of suggestions: I have a B1 active no gain preamp from First watt, I cannot tell the difference with a passive preamp, which says a lot! No gain, but high output impedance so it turns out it has less drive than a passive...
Placette Active and passives are great.
The Best active preamps I have listened to are The Essential, and the top of the line Metaxas preamp. Amazing both of them and they clearly beat a passive in most ways, including transparency.