Passive preamp vs. powered

Shakey,

Yes they are good and I haved owned several of them and several much better then those you listed - active.

I have owned passives from TRL, BV Audio and Placette.

Your sound preference may lean to the passive route. Great for you! Others will want a different sound, like myself.

Fun for all!

Very interesting thread. My experience with highly regarded passive preamps vs great tubed active has always been the same.

The passive ones seem to sound more transparent, fast and detailed. After longer listening and comparisons one resounding thing became clear to me time and time again.

The perceived greater detail etc... of the passsive was actually the absence of body, texture and weight.

Threadbare sound can often seem more transparent at first, but in the end the passives lacked the meat of a great tube preamp.

It's a relative thing to be sure.Some passives have meat, body and texture, however not as much as a great tubed active preamp.

In the end the passives I've tried over the years simply lacked the meaty,earthy and substantial weight/authority of an active.

But, this is key. I don't like a thin, fast and detailed sound. I'll give up detail for natural musicality.

So my opinion does not mean actives sound better for all - just to me and what I like my music to sound like.

Interesting

Love to do a shootout. What passive do you suggest that is transformer based?

I am near Minneapolis, MN