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Re: Leading preamp attributes

Don't waste your time with a passive pre unless it is a TVC. You will have transparency and nothing else.
I personally think that the commonly believed "best way to judge a preamp is to compare it to no preamp in the system , just a straight wire" is the worst thing you could do. It is well known that passive units IE. attenuatir systems sound dead , lacking in dynamics and bass, but have great transparency. Why?
because the signal into the amp is in the mv range , not the 1 or 2 volts needed for full output. Who listens at full volume? No a preamp is going to sound different than a straight piece of wire, it is going to be able to drive cable capacitance,source current , have stability in the face of rf rich environments ( cables are antenna) and be able to do this in mv levels.
I am not looking for a fight but hope to push others do discover what is really contained in their music. Full dynamics, extension and transparency. If you want simple at least get a transformer volume controll.
A very low distortion DHT output tube like the #10 with an opt will do it as will much of the highly sought after exotica. Tough to implement but worth losing some hair over.

Mike is coming out with his TVC unit and I am sure that will be a winner.

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