Passive pre amplifier

[CLEARCUT]

This week I took out my axiom passive pre and connected. SOurce wyred four sound dac and amplifier First Krell Fpb 200 power amplifier. Then Denson Dm 30, Boman power amp 300 wpc and lastly Nad 3020i as power amp. I was previously using EC 1 pre amp, Boman tube pre, Parasound class A pre. My speakers are Dali mentor 2 on Stand. Pophorn hour 400 is the multimedia player. Now comes the review. Every pre has its own signature or flavour. EC is definitely better. But very little bit low bass shy. Other pre have their own pros and cons.


When I connected the passive pre Immediately I felt no back ground noise. Mids were so so natural Allan Taylor husky voice was more predominant. Female voice was so natural. It was as if Tracy chapman came into my audition room. Music was neither bright nor relaxed. Since it was a direct link between source and power amp. Music was three dimensional. Totally it was superb I started listening through my passive. Natural natural.

Then I started connecting to my Denson 100 wpc it was also good tube amp like quality. Passive pre also made Den to sing lovely which was never before like this. Then I connected Boman 300 wpc of high end quality. Wow I could not believe there was competition between Krell and Boman being class AB Boman was authorities in bass section. Krell was the best in HF and better in mid.

Then came the surprise of the day. Nad 3020i which was proclaimed 20 wpc stunned me with its stereo image and three dimensional. Accuracy of music dynamism, previously when I had used as integrated amp I had not felt this much. It came very closer to my Krell and Boman. So it is no doubt why this amp had been sold in shipload all over the world.

Nad can handle minimum 2 ohm speaker. It is able to drive my vintage infinity ref 2 speaker too. Which other amp clips some time. So I conclude here recommending passive pre and also Nad 3020 series amp. You can choose less to high sensitivity speaker too. Anybody likes to hear so natural live like studio performance instead of going for costly pre. You can choose passive pre. You can spend the eta money to accessories or source or speakers. Amp can go for Nad 30... Series

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

A passive pre has become part of my desktop, driving headphone amp and powered speakers. Whilst PC-->DAC will remain primary source, others will get attached in time, even including deck/phon0-pre.

It has a buffered output, which adds just a tiny touch of warm presence, which I like, whilst the unbufferred output is just transparent.

Of course, being passive, it doesn't actually amplify. It's output is the same (or slightly less for the buffered out) than its input.

instead of going for costly pre. You can choose passive pre.

Hmmm... I bought this second-hand. In it's day, ten years ago, it was somewhat high-end hifi, and would have been expensive. Passive doesn't necessarily mean cheap!

 

[koushik]

Clearcut,
This thread again stired my desire to get passive pre and remove the Quad 34 from the chain.

Thad, I agree, that unit gain buffer gives the needed push in the mid frequencies and add a touch of warmth. If amp input is sensitive enough, passive pre is the way to go.

 

[IndianEars]

Clearcut,

Did you not sell your Passive Pre to a FM in Kolkata ? ( Dale resistors + Relay switvhing)

Is this a New Passive Pre ?

Which one ?

 

[rikhav]

Very surprisingly, my setup improved by a vast margin after removing the promethius passive pre from the chain. Its a transformer based volume control

Many fms who came to listen to my setup complianed that the there is no mid bass and bass, tone was not correct and stage was limited

I was not sure what to do as I was not getting any other pre to try but promethius pre and odyssey stratos was a known combo and has worked for many

That time fm jls001 suggsted I try the pass b1. It completely changed the sound of my setup. All the shortcomings were taken for like bass and weight improved by a lot, stage depth and width and most importantly so much more details were extracted without sounding analytical

Maybe, the specific piece I had must be having some issues but I could not find any. Or it maybe that the passive pre you have is of a better quality then the standard promethius I had

Still for the price paid it was very good if I had not heard the b1

 

[AVM]

Clearcut, what's the Axiom model you have? They also have with balanced outputs.

 

[jai1611]

Very surprisingly, my setup improved by a vast margin after removing the promethius passive pre from the chain. Its a transformer based volume control

Some power amps dont like preamps with high output impedance, hence more suitable for active preamps

 

[rikhav]

Some power amps dont like preamps with high output impedance, hence more suitable for active preamps

Hi jai
For me its surprising because promethius passive pre and odyssey stratos is well known combo.
Our fm sidvee used the same at one point of time.

Or is it just that the b1 is just that much better?

If I am not wrong you also used to own a promethius passive pre at one point of time

 

[jai1611]

Hi jai
For me its surprising because promethius passive pre and odyssey stratos is well known combo.
Our fm sidvee used the same at one point of time.

Or is it just that the b1 is just that much better?

If I am not wrong you also used to own a promethius passive pre at one point of time

The Promitheus passive pre is good but fussy about pairing. To me it sounded best when used with a high input impedance power amp (100k ohms) and a source with a bit of drive.

I have limited experience with the Odyssey amps so cant really comment on the pairing.

 

[rikhav]

The Promitheus passive pre is good but fussy about pairing. To me it sounded best when used with a high input impedance power amp (100k ohms) and a source with a bit of drive.

I have limited experience with the Odyssey amps so cant really comment on the pairing.

The input impedance of stratos is 22k ohms so that can be an issue

 

[CLEARCUT]

I did not give away axiom passive pre RCA model1. I am interested in Xlr based so only I placed one ad in wanted. No distortion no hiss or hum. Very good sound stage.

 

[Baddog]

Clearcut, what's the Axiom model you have? They also have with balanced outputs.

Hi AVM, do you have one? I am looking at the Axiom 3 in/2 out RCA and considering the Walker upgrade. What do you think of yours if you have one.

 

[Baddog]

This week I took out my axiom passive pre and connected. SOurce wyred four sound dac and amplifier First Krell Fpb 200 power amplifier. Then Denson Dm 30, Boman power amp 300 wpc and lastly Nad 3020i as power amp. I was previously using EC 1 pre amp, Boman tube pre, Parasound class A pre. My speakers are Dali mentor 2 on Stand. Pophorn hour 400 is the multimedia player. Now comes the review. Every pre has its own signature or flavour. EC is definitely better. But very little bit low bass shy. Other pre have their own pros and cons.


When I connected the passive pre Immediately I felt no back ground noise. Mids were so so natural Allan Taylor husky voice was more predominant. Female voice was so natural. It was as if Tracy chapman came into my audition room. Music was neither bright nor relaxed. Since it was a direct link between source and power amp. Music was three dimensional. Totally it was superb I started listening through my passive. Natural natural.

Then I started connecting to my Denson 100 wpc it was also good tube amp like quality. Passive pre also made Den to sing lovely which was never before like this. Then I connected Boman 300 wpc of high end quality. Wow I could not believe there was competition between Krell and Boman being class AB Boman was authorities in bass section. Krell was the best in HF and better in mid.

Then came the surprise of the day. Nad 3020i which was proclaimed 20 wpc stunned me with its stereo image and three dimensional. Accuracy of music dynamism, previously when I had used as integrated amp I had not felt this much. It came very closer to my Krell and Boman. So it is no doubt why this amp had been sold in shipload all over the world.

Nad can handle minimum 2 ohm speaker. It is able to drive my vintage infinity ref 2 speaker too. Which other amp clips some time. So I conclude here recommending passive pre and also Nad 3020 series amp. You can choose less to high sensitivity speaker too. Anybody likes to hear so natural live like studio performance instead of going for costly pre. You can choose passive pre. You can spend the eta money to accessories or source or speakers. Amp can go for Nad 30... Series

Hi Clearcut, did you get the Walker upgrade on your Axiom? If you did what do you think of it? Would you do it again?