Passive preamps - differences between technologies


Hello!

I have been wondering what are the main differences in the way some passive preamps are designed. 

Some have resistors, some are transformer based.. What are the pros/cons?

More specifically, I'm looking at Music First Classic/Baby Reference V2 vs Hattor the Big or a Tortuga.

I'm looking for an upgrade from Audio Research LS16, considering looking for ARC Ref3 or a nice passive. My amp is ARC Ref150 (which is a lovely thing and I feel like the LS16 is holding it back) and phono pre is RCM sensor2 mk2 - so there's enough gain from the phono, the power amp has 300k ohms input, my DAC can output 1-3V rms, I use interconnects up to 1m so a passive could be an option. 

Thank you. 

Greetings from Prague with the first snow

Filip

128x128filipm

Get the best ARC preamp you can afford.  The synergy will be fantastic.  

My Tortuga Audio LDR preamp has never disappointed me.

It has a very clean transparent sound, nice detail, clarity is a strong point. It images very well too.

It has a pitch black back ground too that I attribute to its battery power supply.

Very impressive, especially for the $$ 👍

If you have adequate gain, I say the same thing to anybody who will listen, get one of Dave Slagle’s autoformers and be done with typical resistor type volume control.