Anyone try McCormack DNA + Placette Passive?


I have a McCormack DNA-125, and I am thinking of getting a Placette Passive Preamp. Has anyone tried this combination or another passive with the McCormack DNA amps that works well? Or tried them and they DON'T work well. All opinions appreciated. Thanks.
shaneajohnson
I am currently using a Promitheus Ref 4 TVC a with an older pair of passive friendly DNA-1 monoblocks. The Ref 4 is much better in every respect than either the McCormack TLC-1 or Endler resistor based volume controls I used previously. The Ref 4/McCormack seems to be a pretty nice combination to me. No problems with impedance mismatch, insufficient gain, or cable length with this option. I have rather insensitive speackers (Magneplanar 1.6) and rarely go beyond 1 o'clock on the volume. I would suggest you consider the Promitheus along with the Placette and Sonic Euphoria. These are all good values and resale should be good. One might do some A/B comparison and keep the best match in your system.
I have owned the Placette RVC, Placette Active, K&K SB102 -I now have a Bent TAP-X which is the newest version with using autoformers -- let's just say that if you are going to try a passive it should be given serious consideration. What has also worked very well in my system context (sensitive tube amps with high inout impedance) is the Goldpoint SA-1 stepped attenuator with a list price of $312. The transformer and autoformer passives do eliminate concerns of impedance matching and cable lenghts.
The DNA 125 has an input sensitivity of 1.0v so it should work well with a passive provided you have a good source.
I briefly tried a Placette passive with a DNA-1 Deluxe and it worked just fine. As someone noted earlier, make sure that your source has a reasonably low output impedance.

I personally found both the Placette Passive and Placette active to provide better resolution than a Bent unit. YMMV.
Had the DNA 0.5 Rev A (now with my sister) paired to a Bent Audio NOH TVC. Very musical combo!