I have no experience with Backert Labs gear so I have no views about them, but for me I have never heard a passive pre that I preferred over and active pre.
I got the third or forth preamp that Don made and just a couple of months ago sent it back for what are likely the last interactions of enhancements he has employed in the preamp. It is by far the finest pre that I have heard in my system in 45 or so years. It is dead quiet in operation and has an immense soundstage owing to the design genius of 6SN7 octal tubes. They inner detail of the instruments in uncannily realistic.
I have had a relationship with Don for nearly a dozen years, going back to the upgrades he did on my HK Citation I, II, and V units. His preamp is vastly better than the fully modded C-I and fair simpler in design. His KT-88 amp is just as good and might give your QS amps a run for their money (I am going to do a comparison of the two very soon.)
I heartily recommend Don's preamp. Every at 3X the its cost, I think it would a hard to find a preamp more musical. I had to go through 15 or 20 preamps over the years before I discovered Don's preamp and now my search is over.
I got the third or forth preamp that Don made and just a couple of months ago sent it back for what are likely the last interactions of enhancements he has employed in the preamp. It is by far the finest pre that I have heard in my system in 45 or so years. It is dead quiet in operation and has an immense soundstage owing to the design genius of 6SN7 octal tubes. They inner detail of the instruments in uncannily realistic.
I have had a relationship with Don for nearly a dozen years, going back to the upgrades he did on my HK Citation I, II, and V units. His preamp is vastly better than the fully modded C-I and fair simpler in design. His KT-88 amp is just as good and might give your QS amps a run for their money (I am going to do a comparison of the two very soon.)
I heartily recommend Don's preamp. Every at 3X the its cost, I think it would a hard to find a preamp more musical. I had to go through 15 or 20 preamps over the years before I discovered Don's preamp and now my search is over.