Best Sounding Passive Preamp

Never had any luck with passives...  far inferior to my Ayre preamp.

Glad you got things worked out and are happy with results. They make some really good Schiit for the money in my experience.

I wonder why no one mentioned Prometheus passive pre, any one have input on that?

Prometheus is a TVC passive (Transformer Volume Control).
http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=7513

These tend to have a "signature" sound, and are not as transparent to the source as a potentiometer, ldr, or switched resistor based passives. Some love their colouration, some don’t. And if they use a winding on the transformer/s with some gain they can "ring" a bit. (they also tend to be expensive for a passive)

Cheers George

I own a Promitheus TVC. I have had it in and out of my system (depending which amplifier I am running) for 3 years. It worked flawlessly when I used it with my Monarchy SM70's and Nola Boxer 2's.  I have even ran it using 25' rca's. No issues whatsoever. I very recently purchased an Aric Audio Unlimited pre to use when I pair my low gain First Watt F5 with the Nola's. I find to my ears,the Promitheus to be very true to my sources. YMMV.