Passive or not?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Thorensman, Nov 25, 2015.

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  1. Thorensman

    Thorensman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I have used active pre-amps for years namely a Hi fi world klpp1 , a concordant( lovely) and s Leak varislope, rebuild with outboard power supply.
    I reasoned one day that phono aside, the Leaks i,m using did,t need active pre operation.
    The input sensitivity being 1.25 mv for full power. Most cd players output 2 volts , most phono stages 1-1.5 mv.
    I purchased a Tisbury passive and IFI phono stage and auditioned.
    Well , in a nutshell, absolutely fantasic! Fm was awesome, i,ve never heard my Troughline sound so good, eerie silences between the notes, a veil has just been lifted, no doubt. Music seems relaxed, and flows. Cd was the very best i have heard it. Input overload must afflict many users, despite a dedicated cd input. The vinyl was best of the lit. But I think thats another story. Anyone else experienced this?
     
  2. uncarvedbloke

    uncarvedbloke Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK - SOT
    Audio Hardware is situated one floor down.
     
    Sordel likes this.
  3. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dixie
    I can't get myself to decide
     
  4. Brother_Rael

    Brother_Rael Senior Member

    Yes, definitely give one a try. I hear very good things of the Tisbury. Other brands of course are available.
     
  5. GP

    GP Senior Member

    Location:
    Lynbrook, NY
    While I admire the minimalist approach, and I still own my Promitheus C-cores, I always return to the active. YMMV.
     
  6. DaveC113

    DaveC113 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Front Range CO
    Active has the potential to be better but there are 2 issues... excessive gain and cost. Most systems don't need gain so a buffer is really what you want, not an active gain stage. Also, good active buffer or gain stages that make a positive contribution cost a lot money, many active preamps make things sound worse.

    For a passive I'd consider Tortuga, I just built a pre using the Tortuga LDR DIY parts and it turned out fantastic. My pre also has an Aikido 6SN7 tube buffer, listening to the pre with and without the buffer I definitely prefer the buffer but it cost a lot with the parts I used. One nice feature on the Tortuga LDR is adjustable input impedance, for some systems this can be a big benefit.
     
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  7. konut

    konut Prodigious Member. Thank you.

    Location:
    Whatcom County, WA
    A key feature of the Tortuga is balance control. My previous passive, a Creek OBH-12, did not have this. The stepped resistors, no matter how finely matched, will vary a bit over their range. Especially noticeable if your speakers don't futz with phase variance.
     
    33na3rd likes this.
  8. ls35a

    ls35a Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eagle, Idaho
    Not.
     
  9. Doug Sclar

    Doug Sclar Forum Legend

    Location:
    The OC
    I used to run my system with no preamp at all other than my home built Leach phono preamp. It only had two trimmer pots and it was a bitch to constantly adjust the gain and keep the center image centered. I was using a Spectra Sonics 700 amplifier system which was card based and had no gain controls.

    That system sounded very good, but in many cases an active section actually improves the sound. I'd have not believed this until I heard it with my own ears.
     
  10. 33na3rd

    33na3rd Forum Resident

    Location:
    SW Washington, USA
    Another passive fan here.

    Tortuga LDR3.v2

    Tortuga's rechargeable battery power supply will be out soon too.
     
  11. DaveC113

    DaveC113 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Front Range CO
    Agreed, the Tortuga has a lot of nice features, it can also do source switching so it is a complete solution for volume, balance, source and adding in adjustable impedance is icing on the cake. This is the first remote controlled preamp I've built and it's spoiling me, not sure I'd ever want to go without again.
     
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  12. DaveC113

    DaveC113 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Front Range CO
    Personally, I'd go without. I built mine with Broski's high performance 12V power supply. In the past I've experimented with battery power using different caps, etc but I think a high quality linear regulated power supply is even better and there are no batteries to wear out.
     
    33na3rd likes this.
  13. MonkeyMan

    MonkeyMan A man who dreams he is a butterfly?

    Passive aggressive...
     
  14. Thorensman

    Thorensman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks for the info. Food for thought. Will look into buffers. One never stops learning. Pre amps are a necessary evil, but confusing when there are so many ways to build them.
    I believe some Crofts were passive on cd and active on phono.
     
  15. Ellsworth

    Ellsworth Forum Resident

    I'm also using the Tortuga. It gives a very very clean sound with no glare and plenty of detail. My biggest complaint is that the Apple remote is a pain to use sometimes. It's great to be able to dial in a precise volume level but it actually has too many steps in it sometimes. In my setup a remote is absolutely mandatory.
     
    DaveC113 likes this.
  16. DaveC113

    DaveC113 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Front Range CO
    Yes, I love my remote... Here's some pics I just posted on AC of my Tortuga/Aikido preamps:

    http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=138965.0
     
    33na3rd and Ham Sandwich like this.
  17. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Passive
    2 Qed MA34
     
  18. Ellsworth

    Ellsworth Forum Resident

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