The old passive/active question again. I love this. Of course, running a component direct is not really 'passive', but there are the same principles. I have discovered there is more to it than output levels and impedences.
I got a quicksilver pre, partly because it has a high quality attenuater, that with a simple rewire, I made into a passive, which was identical in every way to the active part, same parts and jacks and wires, just bypassed the active pre. I was able to try both with a number of source components and amps. While there are cases where certain matches between source and amp just didn't work because of input/output impedences, the output level, or the attenuater, I discovered that a lot of source components that had specs that should have made a passive work great worked better active and visa-versa. While adding something in the chain is always a comprimise to the preservation of the signal, Some components put out a better signal to begin with when they are into a pre. Besides the obvious loss in bass, or dynamics, or 'omph', that indicate a loss of signal, when there is no 'loss', you could listen to how transparent and accurate the sound of a component is when driving a pre.
While it it is important to consider the specs, and they do matter, of the components you are matching, I think you should listen yourself to the components you are going to use, and not rule out the possibility of going either way now or in the future.
I got a quicksilver pre, partly because it has a high quality attenuater, that with a simple rewire, I made into a passive, which was identical in every way to the active part, same parts and jacks and wires, just bypassed the active pre. I was able to try both with a number of source components and amps. While there are cases where certain matches between source and amp just didn't work because of input/output impedences, the output level, or the attenuater, I discovered that a lot of source components that had specs that should have made a passive work great worked better active and visa-versa. While adding something in the chain is always a comprimise to the preservation of the signal, Some components put out a better signal to begin with when they are into a pre. Besides the obvious loss in bass, or dynamics, or 'omph', that indicate a loss of signal, when there is no 'loss', you could listen to how transparent and accurate the sound of a component is when driving a pre.
While it it is important to consider the specs, and they do matter, of the components you are matching, I think you should listen yourself to the components you are going to use, and not rule out the possibility of going either way now or in the future.