Passive preamp w/Rogue Medusa and Rega DAC

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