Are passive preamps bad?

[Waxx]

You have the Glasshouse TVC kit (can be bought build and tested for 850£) sold by Hifi Collective, a very snake oil audio component and kits store from the UK. I saw and heared it once (was a diy build) and it seems to work quiet well.

But i still prefer a no gain but buffered preamp above it. That (when done right) has no sound coloration worth mentioning and does not cost that much to make. Use good opamps for the buffer, the real good ones like the OPA1642 cost less than 3€ (and much less in big quantities).

Ans nothing against a "real" preamp. I actually now use my MiniDSP Flex as preamp in my main system and that is also transparant and actually costed less than this preamp, and has dsp and so...

 

[wadude]

A simple passive pre-amp (literally, "before the amp") can be very effective. I started using one between an Airport Express and amplifiers years ago when my system became single source. I did a lot of web reading before making the decision to try one. One article that helped me understand the relevant concepts was this one:

The Truth About Passive Pre-Amps

 

[Ruhled]

If it's going to have an analog volume pot it should be active to properly buffer it imho.

Sorry but transformer volume controls are about the silliest thing ever, up there with maybe ground boxes and crystals. Except those are almost certainly more transparent than any transformer volume control is.

Simple digital volume control is the greatest contribution DSP has made to audio, IMHO.

 

[wadude]

If it's going to have an analog volume pot it should be active to properly buffer it imho.

Sorry but transformer volume controls are about the silliest thing ever, up there with maybe ground boxes and crystals. Except those are almost certainly more transparent than any transformer volume control is.

Simple digital volume control is the greatest contribution DSP has made to audio, IMHO.

I very recently acquired a WiiM Pro Plus and am slowly becoming conditioned to its level control and other features.

 

[asoka]

Hi!
About using Sabaj a 10h as an preamp...
I do not clearly understand if the preamp signal will pass also thru the amplifier chip on the sabaj...also changing sound signature and scene width
or the signal is passed only thru stepped relays and resistors as only an passive volume without further interference with original signal?
I also do not understand how the gain stages work, because they work also in the pre output...this suggesting that the signal is routed also thru amplifier chip?
The stages are low -6 db normal at 0 and high at +9 db.
I use this sabaj as an additional step to lower the signal power of my dac that output to much, between the dac and the actual hifi tier preamp to be able to use the later preamp volume pot in an usable way...without sabaj prior dampening the signal the volume pot of the second high quality preamp could be operated only on the start of the scale because to loud sound after that.

It is ok and better this solution of using sabaj as preamp in cascade with the second preamp? or better to use just an 10-12 db signal dampener to the input ports of the amplifier?
What method do you think that will better preserve the sound and scene?
I could say that using sabaj in this chain I could not notice any sound degradation, but that rca dampeners I do not tried to see if they do bad to sound.

 

[Roland68]

Hi!
About using Sabaj a 10h as an preamp...
I do not clearly understand if the preamp signal will pass also thru the amplifier chip on the sabaj...also changing sound signature and scene width
or the signal is passed only thru stepped relays and resistors as only an passive volume without further interference with original signal?
I also do not understand how the gain stages work, because they work also in the pre output...this suggesting that the signal is routed also thru amplifier chip?
The stages are low -6 db normal at 0 and high at +9 db.
I use this sabaj as an additional step to lower the signal power of my dac that output to much, between the dac and the actual hifi tier preamp to be able to use the later preamp volume pot in an usable way...without sabaj prior dampening the signal the volume pot of the second high quality preamp could be operated only on the start of the scale because to loud sound after that.

It is ok and better this solution of using sabaj as preamp in cascade with the second preamp? or better to use just an 10-12 db signal dampener to the input ports of the amplifier?
What method do you think that will better preserve the sound and scene?
I could say that using sabaj in this chain I could not notice any sound degradation, but that rca dampeners I do not tried to see if they do bad to sound.

Since the Sabaj A10h is not passive, this is the wrong thread.