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In Reply to: Good passive preamp for Quicksilver amps posted by radknee on November 6, 2014 at 13:38:46:
I will start by saying I have no experience with QS amplifiers.
However, the input impedance of your amps is listed at a healthy 100K ohms which means they should be a suitable match for even a resistive type passive preamp (e.g., resistor volume control such as the Placette discussed in this thread). Also, the sensitivity of your amps is only 1V so even a 2V output from an older CD player should be enough to drive them with a passive.
The speakers are affected by the output impedance behavior of the amplifier so, given the 100K ohm input impedance of your amps, negative sonic effects of using a passive may be small or unnoticable.
That said, last week was the very first time I heard a resistive passive preamp/volume control drive amplifiers without giving up much/any sonically to my active preamp. I was driving a pair of NC1200 Ncore Class D monos with a Goldpoint resistive passive and it sounded really good. Until then, I have strongly preferred the sonic benefits of active preamps and have finally settled in on a buffered preamp (some call these buffered passives because there is no gain). The buffering eliminates any effect of cable impedance/resistance and presents a more evenhanded load to the amplifier.
Many prefer the sound of transformer or autoformer passive devices to those constructed with resistors. The Prometheus models can be found on Audiogon or here for low cost and would be a good way to try out this type of device. Many like the Placette. I have a Goldpoint balanced passive and using SMD resistors and also a pair of Endler Attenuators using discrete resistors. Neither of those have beat my buffered preamp, which uses a Shallco discrete resistor attenuator with Cardas resistors.
I would try both a transformer based passive and a resistor type if you are serious about using a passive. Otherwise, I am sure Mike's tubed preamps sound great with his amps.
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Follow Ups
- RE: Good passive preamp for Quicksilver amps - mitch2 17:40:02 11/09/14 (1)
- Yeah, once you hear a stepped passive you can't go back - airtime 06:57:59 11/11/14 (0)
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