If set up correctly, a passive preamp can sound as good or better than the some of the best active preamps out there. In my system, I have a high quality stepped attenuator built into the input section of my amp. Keep the interconnect 6 feet or less from digital source to amp and make sure the input impedance of the amp is at least 10x higher than the output impedance of the source. All digital source these days have enough output voltage to drive most amps to clipping. If you listen to vinyl, it gets more complicated. This is by far the best "Preamp" I've had in my system in 25+ years.
