Any thoughts on removing a preamp from your system

I need Almarg to chirp in and offer up his usual well informed and no nonsense assessment this time about good passive versus good active pre-amps!

Tortuga is one line that has caught my eye recently. LEt's use that as a test case for comparison perhaps.

Almarg, where are you?

In my second system (the one in the vertical cabinets in my system photos), I have 6 sources:

1) phono
2) Squeezebox Touch
3) DVD
4) tuner
5) VHS tape
6) cable box

The last 4 feed into an old Radio Shack/Realistic unpowered "passive" 4 source switching box gadget I have had for years. This was a $20-$30 gadget as I recall many years back.

Then the "passive" source switching device runs into tape in on an old NAD 7020 receiver that I use for pre-amp only that feeds the TAD Hibachi monoblocks that drive my smaller OHM speakers and my Stax phones.

SB Touch runs direct into the NADs aux input and phono to NAD phono input.

This works quite well. None of the sources I am feeding into the passive Realistic box are SOTA certainly, but the performance is quite suitable. I have heard these devices running directly as well in the past, and if there is a difference, it does not seem to matter much.

That makes me think a true good quality passive pre-amp with a good quality volume control might work quite well. Definitely something worth considering if needed.

Whenever Al chimes in, i just skip to the bottom of his post and try to understand his conclusion. I thought I was somewhat smart until I started coming around here, haha!

I really love my Lightspeed Attenuator. It definately removed that last layer of haze I had at the time. I think it has incredible transparency and dynamics and it was $500. I think you'd have to spend 3 to 4 times that much to even begin to make an improvement, probably at the cost of some transparency.

I admire Al's technical knowledge as well but what do you expect him to say? This is strictly an individual case by case situation. A number of people have auditioned the Lightspeed, some love it and some preferred their active preamplifier. It comes down to what you hear and choose as better. There's no technical explanation to account for the variance in choice. If Al uses/ prefers passive or active it's still his personal decision based on actually listening, not some technical theory. I find tubes better sounding than solid state in general. I don't require a theory to decide, I just listen. The same is true of those listeners who prefer transistors.
Charles,

"I admire Al's technical knowledge as well but what do you expect him to say? "

A purely technical analysis/comparison as only a good EE might concoct.

Understanding the technology is always the key to making good decisions. Of course, you never know for sure how it will sound until you hear it in your situation, but I always like to go in as technically informed as possible.

My own assessment is that if the mating from a volt and impedance perspective looks good on paper, a simple high quality circuit behind it is all that is needed for optimal results. The there is the technology behind the volume control, a different and perhaps more complex story, but not Rocket science still.

Of course optimal results technically does not assure a winner soundwise in the end, given all the other things that factor into any good sound, but its a darn good place to start.