Transformer based passives vs passive stepladder

Gliderguider,

Do you know which version of the S&B Transformers your Bent has in it? The mkI & mkIII versions are supposed to be noticably superior to the mkII.

I really haven't noticed any of the problems you mention going from my phono pre or dac to my Art Audio PX-25 or Welborne DRD 300B amps.

But, I am very, very, interested in Atma-Sphere's fully differential MA-3 preamp with built-in phono stage.

I do believe mine has the Mk II trannies. I think whether there are problems or not is heavily system dependent, but I get the impression that synergy problems are more widespread than gets reported. In my local high-end ecosystem everyone who has tried separate passives of either type has ultimately gone away from them due to problems with dynamics, bass/treble rolloffs and lack of detail. Off the top of my head that would be about six people.

The one fellow who is happily using one has an integrated with a passive volume control. This hints at the role of downstream interconnects in the picture. I have a stepped attenuator on my Audion PX25, but that amp sounds much better with an active line stage driving it. This points to the role the source component's capability plays, since the probable culprit is the source's output impedance.

That adds up to too many variables for this old urban cowboy. I'm much more inclined to put a very good active in the system and stop worrying about it.

I have happily owned a Silver Rock for the last 4 years, and it is, by far, the best sounding volume control I gave used. I bested a very nice custom made stepped attenuator- tube output preamp, along with, over the years, Levinson, VTL, Placette, Spectral preamps; the most expensive of which was $15K. One of the few things in my system I have never felt the need to change, or at least improve upon.