Ditto ... all of the above. I have the Active Line Stage and it is the best preamp I've heard, where you are not trying to "warm things up" (i.e. tubes) There is simply no distortion on the high end, whih makes for wonderfully transparent SACD and XRCD. The downside is that the rest of your system must be up to the task --if you got a harsh or dark front end, the Placette will certainly not let you forget that you need to upgrade. The Active also has a headphone amp that is true class A, and is far better than the Grado headphone amp I had.
Another thing to consider is that Placette spends almost 50% of the selling price on materials -- this is unheard of in this business. If it were a mass manufactured preamp, using standard markups and distributor + dealer margin, I estimate it would cost far North of $10K. Now whether or not it is superior preamps over $10K I can't say, but I think it's clearly the best value under $10K.
With respect to the Active vs. the Passive, I find the active to be slightly better in presence. This is perhaps a function of its more flexible impeadance matching. --Lorne
Another thing to consider is that Placette spends almost 50% of the selling price on materials -- this is unheard of in this business. If it were a mass manufactured preamp, using standard markups and distributor + dealer margin, I estimate it would cost far North of $10K. Now whether or not it is superior preamps over $10K I can't say, but I think it's clearly the best value under $10K.
With respect to the Active vs. the Passive, I find the active to be slightly better in presence. This is perhaps a function of its more flexible impeadance matching. --Lorne