|   Is Passive Preamp always better than Active? | Billyjo
Mar 9, 2002 5:44 PM | | Hi, i recently heard about passive preamp being far better than an active. Is it often the case? Does using a passive pre amp restrict my choice of source equipment? |
| re: Is Passive Preamp always better than Active? | Paul L
Mar 9, 2002 6:06 PM | | Billyio, Not all passive are equal. It depends how the volume control is implemented. I am a passivist because we make our own passive controller. I believe a properly designed passive can rival properly designed actives cost several times.
Paul Lam
P.L.C.Lam Consulting Inc. |
| re: Is Passive Preamp always better than Active? | Billyjo
Mar 9, 2002 6:44 PM | | Thanx Paul. Too bad i've already bought myself a Primare Pre30 a month ago, I like the sound but i must say i hate to see the entire circuit full of integrated circuits!! (Although it sounds good). But i'd still like to buy or build myself a quality Passive one for comparing and as a backup. I'm quite sure that my Marantz CD17 has a high output for use of passive pre, but not too sure about the Musical fidelity X LP2 has. I know i shouldn't ask this question through this forum. But to you have a web site i can visit?
Thanks a lot for the advise. |
| re: Is Passive Preamp always better than Active? | Paul L
Mar 9, 2002 10:11 PM | | You can visit our website www.ftaudio.com. There is a FAQ page that will give you some info that you want to know. FT Audio also has a forum in www.harmonicdiscord.com
Paul Lam
P.L.C.Lam Consulting Inc. |
| re: Is Passive Preamp always better than Active? | Billyjo
Mar 10, 2002 5:54 AM | | Thanks Paul. It was helpful. But from your FAQ section, it seems that as long as the output voltage is 2.0V standard and so is the power amp impedance, a passive pre will always be the best? At the moment i have a Primare Pre30 preamp, although it sounds good, it takes at least 36hours to warm up and under the lid there are 10 burr-brown ICs in there! About the passive pre, if simplicity is the case, why don't manufacturers build a passive device in every power amp? (despite he fact that they want to sell their active pre ^_^'). Thanx again for your help. Oh Oh Oh, what's that about people saying active pre offers more drive and better grip in complex music? |
| re: Is Passive Preamp always better than Active? | Paul L
Mar 10, 2002 7:59 AM | | Hi Billyio,
In fact a lot of manufacturer are putting passive device with their poweramp and sell as integrated. I think that make a lot of sense. I have only sold one active preamp since we lauched the our own FT Audio in 1997. It was becasue the customer wanted a remote and that active preamp is 6 times the price of the LW1. A pretty expensive remote option!!!
Passive can never add things as active and a lot of people like to use active preamp as tone control. For us, from source to poweramp driver stage, it should be as accurate and transparent as possibilty becasue they are low leve signal. It is the poweramp/speaker combo that you should add favour to your taste.
If you read the following post. Read them in order to see how we discussed about the bass.
http://www.harmonicdiscord.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=3162&forum=17&9
http://www.harmonicdiscord.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=3520&forum=7&8
Paul Lam
P.L.C.Lam Consulting Inc. |
| re: Is Passive Preamp always better than Active? | Billyjo
Mar 10, 2002 8:25 AM | | Thanx Paul. I personally hate tone controls, the less 'adjusting knobs' the better. I use to have a Conrad Johnson PV10AL. Maybe i've taken a wrong approach of buying a preamp to aid the sound character of the Musical Fidelity A300cr that i use. |
| re: Is Passive Preamp always better than Active? | Billyjo
Mar 10, 2002 10:39 AM | | Hey Paul, i've been looking, and i found a passive preamp (more like a normal pot). And will i be able to just build one of those using Vishay resistors.?
www.worldaudiodesign.co.uk/pdf/pasiidraw.pdf |
| re: Is Passive Preamp always better than Active? | Paul L
Mar 10, 2002 11:14 AM | | If you look at a pasive like a normal pot, you will end up like most people cursing about passive's impedance matching problem. The sucess of our FT Audio is because of my buddy Fred's proprietary designed X-coupler which look at the source impedance and poweramp loading impedance and do appropriate passive buffering. I am sure other respected brand passive must have something like this as well.
Paul Lam
P.L.C.Lam Consulting Inc. |
| re: Is Passive Preamp always better than Active? | Billyjo
Mar 10, 2002 11:57 AM | | Have you ever heard the Audio Synthesis Passion Ultimate passive pre? Many people said it's a great passive unit. Do you think they're any good? I would actually love to have a listen to your LW, but unfortunately i live in the UK. |
| re: Is Passive Preamp always better than Active? | Paul L
Mar 10, 2002 1:42 PM | | I have not heard the Audio Synthesis myself but some of our customers did. We have shipped several pieces of the LW1 to Europe this year.
Paul Lam
P.L.C.Lam Consulting Inc. |
| re: Is Passive Preamp always better than Active? | Billyjo
Mar 10, 2002 4:20 PM | | That's real cool! you meant you just sent a few for customers or are there dealers for your products? Or i may be better off giving it a listen when i go back to Hong Kong during the summer holiday. Do you sell the LW as kit as well? I've been thinking, if you can make a MC step up transformer and your LW in one box (if it will ever work) it will be really cool.
Thanx Paul! |
| re: Is Passive Preamp always better than Active? | Paul L
Mar 10, 2002 8:20 PM | | Bill, are you from HK? I was from HK and graduated from UCL. So is Fred. No, we don't have dealer. We sell direct with return policy. The risk is the shipping. You can audition the unit when you go back to HK. MC transformer normally is used before the phono-stage not after.
Paul Lam
P.L.C.Lam Consulting Inc. |
| re: Is Passive Preamp always better than Active? | Billyjo
Mar 11, 2002 7:23 AM | | Yes indeed, i'm studying in the University of Manchester and should graduate in July. As i'm a student i don't have a great deal of $$ for HiFi. I don't have tens of years of HIFI experience like you guys, and i was only recently introduced to the world of analog. I think i should give LW a listen in July. And apologize for giving you such a naive idea ^_^'
Thanx Paul |
| re: Is Passive Preamp always better than Active? | wheemy
Mar 25, 2002 6:28 PM | | It is my belief that active preamps bring the music to life, but there is certainly an artificial addition to the original sound and might be simply making up for a weakness in the source. I particularly like Linn Sound which is incredibly active, through microprocessing, but remains very nuetral. I forgot where I read, but somehow active does something that actually makes the sound more dynamic and rhythmic, bass is certainly better. Sorry for being vague, but active does sound better. But if you don't have the money to buy a good active preamp, a cheap passive will sound much better than a cheap active. Dollar for dollar passive sounds better. |
| re: Is Passive Preamp always better than Active? | Norm Strong
Mar 11, 2002 1:02 PM | | Since passive preamps are cheaper than active ones, if they were always better, who would ever buy an active one?
So I guess the answer is, No, they aren't always better. |
| re: Is Passive Preamp always better than Active? | Billyjo
Mar 11, 2002 2:13 PM | | Hi, would you be Norman Strong from Manchester by any chance? |
| It depends | skeptic
Mar 12, 2002 2:50 AM | | Given the infinite energy, determination, and ingenuity people are capable of, sooner or later someone will screw up almost anything including something as simple to design and build as a stereo preamplifier. There are plenty of lousy ones out there, some at rediculious prices. There are also many fine ones. Is a "passive preamplifier" better than a poorly designed active one? Obviously. But it probably shouldn't be called a preamplifier since it doesn't amplify anything. It's just a box with a bunch of switches, jacks, and a potentiometer. Given how little you actually get, the price of some of those is also amazing. Do you need an active preamplifier? That depends. If you have a phonograph and use a moving coil or moving magnet cartridge, you need an active preamplifier even if it's just a separate phono amp stage and and you call it something else. If you want (uh oh, here comes the dreaded e word) an equalizer, that has an active "pre-amplifier" built in also. Active preamplifiers can perform functions that passive preamplifiers can't. Some "minimalist" active preamplifier designs don't give you much except the same functions as passive units and a buffer amplifier stage which may not be necessary. In reality, the voltage amplifiers in a well designed "active" preamplifier have distortion and noise levels that are barely measurable with the best equipment and completely inaudible. The signal on every recording you own went through many preamplifier stages before it got put on your vinyl, cd or tape, even if you listen only to "direct to disc" recordings. |
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