Is no preamp really better that a good preamp?

"What could be better than a passive?", certainly not all the active preamps he has manufactured. I have a lot of respect for Nelson Pass and I do think his designs are simple and straight forth (minimum gain stages). However he has never marketed a passive preamp to my knowledge but does recommend them.

No money in them ask me, he makes 10 x the profit making actives, why add passive to the range and effect sales of the actives, it's called business strategy, and he's a very wealthy man because of it.

Cheers George

Make that 1000 X

Phd; The Pass Laboratories Aleph L (2 different versions?) and Pass's First Watt B1 and B2 were interesting offerings.

Rustler, I use the Aesthetix Calypso with an Esoteric K-05 and I enjoy the combination a great deal. It gives you the opportunity to tailor the sound by tube rolling.

The gain of the Calypso can be reduced by 12dB by switching two pair of jumpers in the preamp. This can be done easily by the user. Instructions are in the manual.