Passive Pre-amp: Improves overall sound quality??

Lets list what a preamp does:

1. source selection
2. voltage gain
3. attenuation
4. buffering (impedance matching)
5. tone control (older preamps,typically)

Now, it is up to user to define his needs,since "the simple is the better" (or Okahm's razor) principle works in audio as well!
I ended removing the 2.,4.,and 5.

When it comes to active preamps Ralph is the only designer I know that adds one more item to the list of what an active preamp should do and that is control the interconnect. As someone who is very passive friendly I can respect this point of view. If an active preamp is "acting" as a tone control then it is a flawed design or designed to perform that way, which in my opinion is wrong headed thinking, or it cannot control the interconnect and its artifacts. Transparency should be the key attribute of any preamp.

BTW I currently use a passive with my analog set up (tape and vinyl) with no issues. That is soon to change though.

While I'll agree with Sam's article about passive pre's I did have a chance to listen to that particular passive unit for several weeks and it was extremely good but I still preferred Steve McCormack's VRE-1b pre-amp and by a wide margin, which by the way only puts out 6dB of gain. There's an axcellent review that just came out here:
http://www.ultraaudio.com/index.php/equipment-menu/284-smc-audio-vre-1c-reference-preamplifier

(Dealer disclaimer)

Marebg, you forgot one of the most important things a great active is needed for.

- great sounding music from a stereo system

At least this has been my experience even when all the stars were aligned perfectly for a passive to shine.

Do you suppose that Sunnyjim is really a troll, recognizing that we haven't all gotten our fists bloodied over the passive vs active debate for at least a month?