If you construct a passive attenuator using a standard voltage divider layout with metal film resistors, and your sources have low output impedances, and your destinations have high input impedances, then it may have lower noise and distortion than an active preamp. Especially at the low to medium volume levels we normally use for listening (-20 to -40 dB from full scale). With perfectly flat frequency response through the audible spectrum. And perfect L-R channel balance at every setting, something analog pots don't achieve.
Calculations and examples on which I base my opinion are
here.
In summary, if the basic requirement for transparency is 1:10 impedance ratios on both sides (source to passive input, and passive output to destination), then a 5k attenuator meets that goal for most systems with solid state devices. That is, most sources have < 500 ohm output impedance, and most destinations have > 12500 ohm input impedance.
However, I understand the advice to avoid passives. It has a pragmatic sensibility. An active preamp is more "plug and play", doesn't require the impedance matching, and if they have higher noise and worse channel balance than a passive, the difference may not be audible. And the best active preamps have noise performance that equals or exceeds what a passive can do, like the
Topping A90 Amir reviewed here.