With a passive preamp direct you should be looking for an amp with an input sensitivity under 1 volt. I use
a Gamut D200, and a passive preamp with the D200 set at it's .775 volt input sensitivity, with 5 meters of interconnect cable between the preamp & amp. Having just tried a active preamp for comparisons, there's no lack of dynamics, resolution, bass or treble response. As Marakanetz points out the midrange presence is affected.
In my system,the active preamp moves the midrange forward
as the volume is increased. Allowing that the power amp/speaker and impedance interfaces are good, adjustable input sensitivity on the amp and variable gain controls on the preamp would allow a user to dial in the sound they want, but there aren't many products that offer that feature.
a Gamut D200, and a passive preamp with the D200 set at it's .775 volt input sensitivity, with 5 meters of interconnect cable between the preamp & amp. Having just tried a active preamp for comparisons, there's no lack of dynamics, resolution, bass or treble response. As Marakanetz points out the midrange presence is affected.
In my system,the active preamp moves the midrange forward
as the volume is increased. Allowing that the power amp/speaker and impedance interfaces are good, adjustable input sensitivity on the amp and variable gain controls on the preamp would allow a user to dial in the sound they want, but there aren't many products that offer that feature.