Passive preamp w/Rogue Medusa and Rega DAC

I've always thought that that only way of going one better than using a passive pre from dac/cdp to the poweramps is by going direct if the dac/cdp has a digital domain VC, and so long as it's used no less than 75% of full as I've stated in above posts.

Here is a statement fronm the designer of the TotalDac one of the best digital front ends you can get.
"Volume control:
I have made many different volume controls, including high end pots, relays, Shallco + stepper motor, LDR... The best sound was with the digital volume control made inside the FPGA of the DAC d1, made with a 69bit resolution. It was the only way not to "listen" to the volume control components. This digital volume control allows not to have cables and connectors in the signal path."

http://www.totaldac.com/principles.htm

http://parttimeaudiophile.com/2014/05/30/high-end-2014-totaldac/

Cheers George

Very interesting points about going straight from the DAC to the amp. One thing that I need is a really good remote control. I haven't done the research but I think that may be hard to find. This is something I should look into further.

The idea of a passive never occurred to me until recently when I upgraded the connections between my MacMini to the Rega. I got more detail but I also started hearing more glare. My initial thought is that the preamp was probably more to blame than the Rega. Going with a passive would be affordable and take the Acurus preamp out of the equation. As a bonus it would let me put more of my budget to upgrading the DAC in 2015.

Like most people, budget is a major issue for me. My original plan was to save up and spend 1.5K sometime next year on a good tube preamp. The year after that, I planned to upgrade the Rega DAC - by then I will have a good feel for how to address DSD (do I want it or not).

I may still go down that path but it seems that investigating a good passive (or finding a DAC to go direct to the amp) are worthwhile things to look at.

In the meantime, I will be borrowing a passive to determine if using one is even feasible in my system. Thanks for all the comments. This has been a great thread!

05-30-14: Sruffle
In the meantime, I will be borrowing a passive to determine if using one is even feasible in my system. Thanks for all the comments. This has been a great thread!

Definitely worth a try with your system, to hear it at it's most transparent, dynamic and extended from top to bottom.
Just make sure the one you try has a 10kohm or 20kohm logarithmic (A taper) pot inside it.
And that your interconnects are <100pf (picofarad) per foot capacitance, which quality ones usually are.

Cheers George

How are people liking the Tortuga's these days?

I like the concept and approach and have seen some good reviews but have not heard these.

Well, I made the leap. I replace my modded Acurus RL-11 with DIY passive that uses the Tortuga LDR3V2 board. I received it this weekend and gave it a trial run Saturday and Sunday. My first reactions were mixed. Because I was juggling taking care of the kids and getting used to the remote I didn’t really get a good feel for the sound but I will say that I wasn’t bowled over right out of the gate.
The second night I was able to sit down and really dig in. I am not a reviewer but my impressions were:

1) Lower noise floor – I listen to a lot of live Grateful Dead and this was particularly noticeable on several live recordings.

2) Increased detail

3) Better tone and timber - on jazz recordings, horns and saxes seemed more pure and free flowing. Additionally some glare was removed from my system.

This was exactly what I was hoping for. One thing that I did realize is that the Acurus has a great remote. I am going to order an Apple remote to see how I like it.

I was looking for some of the typical characteristics that critics of passives highlight. Other than not liking the remote as much, I didn’t sense any deficiencies. Maybe I will in the future but for now I am very happy with the decision to go this route. This is a great component to build a system around. The money saved from upgrading the preamp can now be put into a DAC upgrade somewhere down the line.

Again, thanks to all the responses on this thread. This has been a significant upgrade for relatively minor dollars that will give me much listening pleasure going forward. I may post some more impressions after further listening