Best preamp is no preamp: always true?

Depends on your system...and wallet. A well designed passive volume control does very little to degrade the signal...I,ve owned the Bent Audio passive around two years ago. Great product that simply smoked all before it in my system!

That said, a system and room change caused me to need gain to reach the spl's I had in the old system/room...had to go back to an active preamp.

I found that active preamps are far and few between in matching the level of sound quality I had with the Bent Audio passive unless you spend big bucks...something I did not want to do.

After around a year, I found on the used market a tubed preamp that does replace the Bent's qualities in every way.

Had I been willing to spend $3,000 and up for a preamp I'm sure it would have been a more easy a task.

My opinion on your question: "Is this a solid and robust statement?"

Passive volume controls are better than all but the best active preamps. Passive volume controls do not work well in all systems. The best active preamps "sound passive" while only adding gain...and of course more options.

Dave

Sogood51 got it right. No, its not always true. Sometimes its true.

The appropriate preamp is system-dependent. Preamps can be viewed as a combination of a passive attenuator and a gain stage. The issues that need to be addressed are: Are output and input impedances compatible; Is there enough gain or excessive gain in the overall system; Is the built-in "preamp" output of the CDP of good quality or is it advantageous to take a direct out (bypassing the built-in if possible) and use a better quality preamp stage?

I have found that in real life passive pre's can sound very thin and bad. I'm sure it's system dependent, but if the impedances don't match well, it will sound bad.

Sogood51, your statement doesn't say very much.
"Passive volume controls are better than all but the best active preamps. Passive volume controls do not work well in all systems"
It is like saying French bordeaux is the best red wine out there but it is not for everyone.
How is that better than all and yet it is not competetant in some system?
Would it make sense to say that best active is better than all passive because it is suitable for all systems?