Passive pre recommendations & advice on pots, etc

[JohnJo]

I had a Tisbury passive but preferred the Alps Blue pot in my Icon Audio passive. For me the Alps conveyed the boogie factor a lot better. A more musical presentation all round I thought. Suppose it depends on the type of presentation you prefer.

[farflungstar]

I think marco had a very good Glasshouse passive for sale at a ridiculously low price then withdrew it. Ask him.

[Macca]

I knew you would ask.... The worst case generally CAN be when one item is switched off. If you have a passive pre (this applies to all pres really but passives will be vastly more effected, some valve gear second worse here) driving both your power amp and a headphone amp (or anything else) then the two amps being driven "see" each others inputs. Sometimes when gear is switched off its input impedance can be highly non linear and can cause distortion which you hear via the amp that is switched on. An AOS member had just such an issue a couple of weeks ago I recall. Even much less serious scenarios are highly likely to degrade SQ. Things connected to "Tape out" can have a similar effect BTW.

Without analysing specific makes and models of kit and having access to their circuit diagrams etc it's impossible to say precisely what kit will be adversely effected etc.

To climb on to my soapbox, it's one of the MANY things in audio that are important but virtually ignored by/not known to audiophiles... whilst meanwhile they obsess about stuff so unimportant it probably makes no difference....

Thanks Jez. I sometimes connect an active sub to my passive but can't say I've noticed any issues. The multiple outputs are intended for bi and tri amping.

[Arkless Electronics]

Thanks Jez. I sometimes connect an active sub to my passive but can't say I've noticed any issues. The multiple outputs are intended for bi and tri amping.

It doesn't matter what it's "intended for"... the elektrickery doesn't know that...

Often one will get away with it no problem, as I explained earlier it would take analysis of individual circumstances and equipment to say what to expect. It will probably always have more effect than anything to do with cables though!

[Arkless Electronics]

I like the Tisbury but I ideally need more control of volume (more steps) because while I can generally find a good volume without problem at normal/louder levels it can be difficult at lower volumes to get what I need (due to thin walls and neighbours). One setting is too low but then the next has a bigger volume jump than I'd like.

Also I've read that while the Tisbury is great and super good value for money, I see many comment that it's easily beatable for not too much more money.




That was me also. Seems this could be trickier to sort out than I initially thought... I really don't want to be plugging the headphone amp in/out all the time. Even if I had 2 passives, 1 for amp and 1 for headphone amp I'd still have the problem of connecting up both outputs on my DAC into the passives and having the distortion problem I had in the other thread. So even using a tape out no good either...?

Probably not. Depends on whether it's buffered or not. Most aren't. What you need is a double pole changeover switch on your passive pre to switch one set of output sockets on at a time... but not both!

[Marco]

I think marco had a very good Glasshouse passive for sale at a ridiculously low price then withdrew it. Ask him.

Not me, Adrian. It's another guy. I had a Goldpoint for sale, but it's now gone.

Marco.

[farflungstar]

Ok marco - sorry - dementia!

[Macca]

It doesn't matter what it's "intended for"... the elektrickery doesn't know that...

Sure, I understand that.

[Bigman80]

I knew you would ask.... The worst case generally CAN be when one item is switched off. If you have a passive pre (this applies to all pres really but passives will be vastly more effected, some valve gear second worse here) driving both your power amp and a headphone amp (or anything else) then the two amps being driven "see" each others inputs. Sometimes when gear is switched off its input impedance can be highly non linear and can cause distortion which you hear via the amp that is switched on. An AOS member had just such an issue a couple of weeks ago I recall. Even much less serious scenarios are highly likely to degrade SQ. Things connected to "Tape out" can have a similar effect BTW.

Without analysing specific makes and models of kit and having access to their circuit diagrams etc it's impossible to say precisely what kit will be adversely effected etc.

To climb on to my soapbox, it's one of the MANY things in audio that are important but virtually ignored by/not known to audiophiles... whilst meanwhile they obsess about stuff so unimportant it probably makes no difference....

This is very interesting Jez, ive got two outputs on my Pre, one into my amps and one into my headphone amp. I cant hear a difference when im only using one of the outputs. I'll try it with both tomorrow. Very interesting!

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[Simon_LDT]

Probably not. Depends on whether it's buffered or not. Most aren't. What you need is a double pole changeover switch on your passive pre to switch one set of output sockets on at a time... but not both!

Never heard of that before but I guess it's not something common?