PartTimeJedi Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Hi, Does a passive pre work well with Klipsch (Klipschorn, Cornwall , La Scala) horns and could any of you give me some general impressions. Thanks very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 It's more a question of; will a pasive pre fully drive your amp. You'll have to judge if you like the sound of it for yourself. Thanx, Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SET12 Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 It's more a question of; will a pasive pre fully drive your amp. You'll have to judge if you like the sound of it for yourself. Thanx, Russ Russ is right. It can be very rewarding. Transparency especially. I had a Peach II here in my system, which is very popular on this forum used with my highly modified CDP and I preferred my CDP direct. My system also has substanial dynamic response and yet I still prefered direct as the low end on the Peach II was loose for my tastes, I think part of the problem of the Peach for me was it is loaded with switches which can get in the way of transparency. The reason for this is I learned that music on its leading edges can approach 100 volts/micro second. This creates a diode effect with switch contacts. So the more switch contacts the worse it gets. It explains to me much of vintage gear sound. For me it takes a very,very expensive preamp to satisfy my needs. SET12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Dubay Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 PartTime, I have always enjoyed the sound of passive preamplifiers. I have compared both tubed and a few high dollar solid state preamplifiers against passive preamplifiers and I find more sparkle and detail using passive preamplifiers. I'm sure there are active preamplifiers out there that can excell again passive preamplifiers, I just have not had the chance to listen to one and have a direct test against a passive. I find they provide a lot of bang for you dollar, spending about $200 can get you an excellent sounding passive that would take many times that cost to get a similar sounding active preamplifier. I will have to see if your CD player provide enough gain to fully drive your amplifier, most modern CD players can drive most modern amplifiers. You will also have to get a separate phono section. My passive preamplifiers consist of selector switches, potientiometers, wire, and phono plugs. Good selector switches have silver contacts, coil silver or silver plate. Grayhill is one of my favorites. For phono plugs, I use gold plated Dayton phono plugs. Wire consists of 18 or 20 gauge copper, either from Carrol, or Radio Shack. I use silver based solder for assembly. I find that stepped poentiometers win out slightly over high quality carbon potentiometers such as an ALPS blue velvet. There are several kits out there that provide the switches and resistors to build yourself a stepped potentiometer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 I own at least six Creek OBH-10's or 12's. They provide remote volume control with a good quality potentiometer and almost no discernible added sound to the signal going through it. I rarely ever use an active preamp on my systems. Works well for me. Sometimes I miss not having a balance control, I get tired of moving my chair to the right or left. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David H Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Although I am pro passive preamps, I always go back to my tubes. My passives however also consist of Grayhill selectors with a Goldpoint stepped attenuator. I have used the Alps Blue in the past and find them to be excellent as well, I dont think you can go wrong with a passive. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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