placette vs sonic euphoria

I agree with Rick that the Active is a step up from the passive unit. The dynamics and sense of energy of the Active is hard to beat.

I owned both units for a number of months. Both units sound neutral and render virtually the same amount of detail. I like both of them, but they don’t sound the same. I’ll try to describe the differences.

The SE sounds heavier, with more heft and weight, and the base is stronger. The Placette is lighter, faster and more agile. Imaging is wide and deep for both. Your source recordings will be accurately reproduced in all their glory (or gory).

The SE is more dynamic, while the Placette is more transparent. At lower listening levels, the SE delivers more dynamic impact than the Placette. The output tracking between channels on the SE is not nearly as accurate as the Placette. The Placette is always dead on, while the SE favors one channel over the other at the lower volume levels. Once you get the SE beyond the 9:00 O’clock position, it smoothes out, but never matches the Placette for a stable dead center sound stage.

I eventually bought a Placette Active and sold both passive units. I recommend the active, but it is a more expensive option.

Rick

I have owned both and the sonic euphoria and placette.
To me, in my system I like the Placette. The Sonic Euphoria is great, but when I turned the system up it just didn't sound as good??
I had it for almost 30 days and keep going back and forth.
I ended up sending it back.
The placette sounded the same a high and low volumes.
I did like the Sonic Euphoria's bass but the Placette is very transparent.
I did not compare it to the Placette Active as I got that after I sent the Sonic Euphoria back but I can say the active is in a whole different league as you would expect it to be when you look at the co

I own both. Since passive works well in my tube and SS systems I have no issues as mentioned by Drubin.
They are both excellent, however I prefer the looks, style, remote control, and sonics of the Sonic Euphoria. Both owners have excellent customer service.
Best regards...

I've owned a Placette and have heard a Sonic Euphoria in my system. I can't say which sounds better all things being equal, but the Placette active unit (the pricey one) should absolutely work with any source and any amplifier. The Sonic Euphoria's autoformers are more fussy. It did not sound good at all with my CD player. With passive devices, things need to be well matched.

I owned both, and preferred the Sonic Euphoria in a back to back comparison.