I am not sure if a good TVC needs a particular cable or not. For me, I kept using the existing cable. But the most important aspect of a TVC (passive), I learned was the "gain" aspect.
You have to be absolutely careful in selecting the amp (and speakers - which I consider secondary) that you will be using with the passive. I was looking for a very good amp which was highly sensitive. the lower the sensitivity number, the highly sensitive it would be. The Parasound that I have has a sensitivity of 1V for full power (250 Watts). There are other amps that are more sensitive than this amp - but they are all tubes, and I did not want to go that route. When I got the combo in place, it sounded better than the integrated I had in place. But when I moved to the new room and wanted to place the speakers 4 feet in front of the wall, I missed the bass and body.
It was only when I moved up to XLR, that I actually got the "body" of the music that I was missing. I have my speakers 4 feet from the front wall and 30" from side walls and find that I have a great bass. Honestly, it is a night-and-day difference in my system. I believe this is the body and impact that Atmasphere is talking about. But again, it was a "gain" issue. Most people whom I have interacted with before, use TVC with tube amps. So, gain is not an issue for them, even when they use RCA.
I would be more than eager to compare my TVC with the Parasound JC2 preamp to see what more an active preamp can do in the system. If at all I upgrade the TVC to a active preamp in future, it will be either this preamp or the newer version of JC2. But my next upgrade will surely be CDP/Transport with a balanced output, that will ensure much more gain in my system.
You have to be absolutely careful in selecting the amp (and speakers - which I consider secondary) that you will be using with the passive. I was looking for a very good amp which was highly sensitive. the lower the sensitivity number, the highly sensitive it would be. The Parasound that I have has a sensitivity of 1V for full power (250 Watts). There are other amps that are more sensitive than this amp - but they are all tubes, and I did not want to go that route. When I got the combo in place, it sounded better than the integrated I had in place. But when I moved to the new room and wanted to place the speakers 4 feet in front of the wall, I missed the bass and body.
It was only when I moved up to XLR, that I actually got the "body" of the music that I was missing. I have my speakers 4 feet from the front wall and 30" from side walls and find that I have a great bass. Honestly, it is a night-and-day difference in my system. I believe this is the body and impact that Atmasphere is talking about. But again, it was a "gain" issue. Most people whom I have interacted with before, use TVC with tube amps. So, gain is not an issue for them, even when they use RCA.
I would be more than eager to compare my TVC with the Parasound JC2 preamp to see what more an active preamp can do in the system. If at all I upgrade the TVC to a active preamp in future, it will be either this preamp or the newer version of JC2. But my next upgrade will surely be CDP/Transport with a balanced output, that will ensure much more gain in my system.