Best preamp is no preamp: always true?

S23chang: I think it will come down to that!
I looked upon the specs of my source and my amp and I see no particular problem with gain (out 2v, in 0.4v), nor impedance (out 325, in 35k). I guess I am free to listen to any preamp then, active or passive!!!!

newerphile,

"I guess I am free to listen to any preamp then..."

Careful. A resistive passive can interact with interconnect cable capacitance to form a low-pass filter so one should evaluate the other components in the system.

Read this:
http://www.dact.com/html/passive_preamp.html
from the DACT commercial web site and also maybe use this:
http://www.dact.com/html/ac_calculator.html
their attenuation calculator.

There are other, less commercial, technical papers on passive preamps which will probably be revealed with a google search. I can't put my finger on them right now. Also, maybe try the DIY forum over at audio asylum.

From my experience, 3V is min for passive. I have 2V CD players and it just not enough gain

"From my experience, 3V is min for passive"

I pretty much agree with you, my experience as well.

Dave

Can you explain to me why you fell that 2V is not enough for passive if the amp has, for example, 0.4V input sensitivity? I trust your experience and will likely go active but that puzzles me a little.
Thanks