Any thoughts on removing a preamp from your system

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.

Mapman, thank you kindly for the nice words.

I haven't ever experimented with any kind of passive preamp, or with direct drive from a source component, because in my case it would pretty much be a non-starter functionally. I have five sources, having widely differing output impedances and levels; and my preamp supplies outputs to three destinations (I could readily do without one of them, the record out to my tape deck, but I definitely need outputs to my headphone amp (which I drive from a second tape out) and of course to my power amp). Also, the cable length from preamp to power amp is long enough to be something of a concern with many passives.

Regarding your question about why some people who've tried both approaches report better results with actives, even if cable lengths, cable capacitances, and impedances are all ostensibly suitable for a passive, I would speculate that one reason is that discerning listeners having resolving systems can hear effects attributable to those parameters to a degree that is somewhat greater than would be expected on the basis of conventional analysis.

A speculative and hypothetical example, to illustrate my point: If the combination of cable capacitance and the output impedance of a passive preamp (which will depend on the setting of its volume control as well as on the output impedance of the source component which drives it) results in a bandwidth of say 50 or 100 kHz, that would ostensibly seem likely to be sufficient. But perhaps in combination with bandwidth limitations elsewhere in the system the result might be phase shifts in the audible upper treble region that are sufficient to produce time domain misalignment of those frequencies relative to lower frequencies, to a degree that may be perceptible under some circumstances. In other words, more bandwidth margin may be necessary in some circumstances than is commonly recognized.

I'd imagine also that a contributing factor in some cases is along the lines of the point George has made in a number of threads, that active circuitry may be introducing colorations that are euphonic. Not that there's **necessarily** anything wrong with that, IMO.

Another reason may derive from the combination of the facts that it seems clear that not all cable effects are technically explainable or predictable, and passive preamps (or at least resistance-based passive preamps) can be expected to magnify cable effects as a consequence of their relatively high impedance levels.

The point that was made earlier about sonic degradations being introduced by the parts in a passive preamp probably also has some validity in many cases, but FWIW my own instinct is that if those parts are chosen to a high standard interface effects are likely to be more significant. Others may disagree.

And in situations where digital volume controls in source components are being used in lieu of having any preamp, presumably "bit-stripping" would be a factor in some cases.

So I think that the answer to your question of "why" is multi-faceted. And I certainly wouldn't rule out that in at least a few cases the "why" might simply be user error in configuring the application.

A lot of experienced based opinions have already been expressed in this thread, from many whose opinions I have great respect for. As you said initially, there is no single right and wrong answer, that will be optimal in all circumstances. But FWIW mine own instinct (based, as I said, on having no experience with passives) is that Brownsfan's particularly nuanced post rings especially true.

Best,
-- Al

AL, thanks for that.

Yes, I suppose I'm back to my original post. Passive appears an attractive option for cost, small size, and simplicity, inc cases where those things matter, like mine, and perhaps other reasons, but you never know or sure what will work best until you try.

I'll probably stick with the various pre-amp options at my disposal already for now, in that these are working out quite well already, but I am thinking this is something I would like to give a go someday when the time is right, like if my trusty old NAD decides to finally give it up. OR maybe just something to toy with in comparison to the ARC sp16 in my main rig just for kicks, if I get a few extra bucks I don't know what to do with (ha!).

I have a passive pre in my system right now and the music sounds great: tubes on the top end, ss on the bottom, and I have no idea whether impedance matches or doesn't match.

That said, when I get my active pre (tube) back from being repaired, I'll put it back in my system, not b/c of a difference in sound but b/c I like my active pre-amp. Yes, that's audio insanity for you, but it's my own.

The point is, this an audio equipment forum for people--the vast majority of whom are males, who are either wired for it (pardon the pun) or culturally conditioned for it, or both--for people who are interested in equipment, in stuff. The more cool stuff the better. So no one should be surprised that the majority opinion falls in favor of pre-amps, and active ones at that. As others have said, let your own ears--which in this case necessarily means your own psychology--be the judge.