Why an active preamp with Rock-N-Roll ?

I like the transparency that Passives give.I do not have wads of cash for a SOTA Active and if your speakers are on the Bass side it might do well to Balance the system.

My Passive out played the Rotel I was using I know that much.It did so many things better that I am really glad I moved to the passive.

I have read great things about BENT and PLACETTE also.It is not expensive to go down to Radioshack and buy the components to try it out yourself.A good saturday project and then repost your findings.Do it and lets see what you think then.

The same challenge was done in another BB and the poster was very thankful he tried it.

Won't cost you much to hear the difference.Then if you say it is hindering your system I will respect your opinion,but till then I can't really see how people can slam them.

The Bent 102 is solid state isn't it?

4yanx, the Eclipse is collaborating with a Carver Lightstar
Reference SS amp and E-stats. I just installed Ram 6DJ8's (via Roger Modjeski helpful advice). My system sounds wonderful but I'm always open to suggestions on tubes. BTW, once upon a time, I had my Lightstar amp paired up with its' highly regarded stablemate, the Lightstar Direct (passive pre). As much as I was hoping that magic would happen, the dynamics just weren't there. The Kora makes everything sparkle - including my tuner. It never sounded so good. The soundstage just exploded with the Eclipse.

Steakster, I tried a wide variety of 6dj8, 6922, and 7308's in my Eclipse; Siemens, Teles, Amperex, Mullard, all the usual "suspects". Not so much because any one of them sounded bad, just found it fun to do and listen for the difference. Believe it or not, the best OVERALL sound I realized was using La RadioTechnique 7308's. A bit hard to track down, but worth an audition if you enjoy tube rolling. May sound different in your system, though.

Tweakster, the Bent is solid state in the sense that it does not have tubes, I guess. It is a transformer-based passive with neither tranisitors nor printed circuits (except for the optional remote control I chose for mine). It is true that you can build a passive rather inexpensively following a Radio Shack visit. BUT, and this is a but bigger than J Lo's, not with the same quality of components found in either the Bent or Placette. I am not sure if that is what Abex was meaning to imply, though it should be clarified. Apologies if this is not the case.

Active or passive ain't the issue. It's how well the components match, i.e. synergy.
My cdp direct to ss amp has all the "snap" you'd want: on certain Radiohead cuts, you can reach out and feel the electronic current---pulsating.
But it also has the fluidity, grace, and subtle power to convey every nuance in Callas's highest notes.