Passive Pre - No Regrets?

Remember that those interested in autoformers have to be sure that there is absolutely no DC on the output of their sources. Any DC getting through can be bad for amps.

By contrast, one of the primary benefits of transformers is galvanic isolation, or making sure no DC reaches the next stage.

Of course, if a person is sure that all their sources have no DC, then there can be sonic benefits to an autoformer over a transformer for volume attenuation.

"I had to laugh at Mr.Sphere's comments about passives not being able to drive the cables... that's a pretty broad statement. With the right source some of these passives(TVCs) will spank an active all day long driving cables. Being he designs and builds active preamps..I'm not surprised at the negativity towards passives. Man.. this jet black background coloration is working for me.;-)"

It might surprise you that we've built passives too. Of course, we do think that our line stages exhibit a new possibility of line stage capability (and we are who we are- no surprises there- if you think I ought not offer comments I'm open to suggestions).

I like to take advantage of the capabilities of monoblock amplifiers by putting them very close to the speakers, thus keeping the errors introduced by any/all speaker cables to a minimum. This means that the interconnect has to have some length. There are no passives that we have found that are able to drive the distance without an audible artifact. Our line sections can drive 30-100 feet with no difficulties. Simply out of the question with passives unless the control is at the input of the amp.

Thank you Mr.Sphere for sharing. Maybe one day I'll need 30 ft cables..I doubt it..but who knows? I'll certainly take a look at your preamps if that moment arises. At the moment I'm happy with 1 meter cables and a passive TVC. On the other hand your amplifiers do look tasty.;-)

Good listening

Gotta admit, that used Atma MP-3 preamp that was for sale here at $2k had my bank account shaking, badly.

I'm still waiting for my Placette, which should be here this week. Just for the record, my IC from the Placette to the amps will by 1M Cardas GR or 2M. Guy, Mr. Placette, thought I would have no problems with the cables and my equipment. He also suggested that placing the Merlin BAM between the Placette and the Amp might be a good approach. So, if the Placette can't beat the CAT, I think I can assume it would not be do to capacitance issues in the ICs. I see Atmasphere's point about running 30-100 ft cables, which would suggest the need for an active and perhaps balanced cables, but as GMood1 suggests, is this really relevant to me, with my setup. Well, I guess the proof will be in the listening. I'll send my observations when I have a few days of listening. Thank you.