Passive preamp buzzing?

[Marco]

Interesting that you point out 'umph', whilst a passive can be more transparent and 'open' as you say it comes at a penalty of lacking slam and macro-dynamics compared to an active. So, which is more faithful to the music? You make your choice. I personally miss the 'umph' when I use passives, and I've tried some serious ones. My source has an output impedance of 90R (4R without the output transformers), so is not a bottleneck here.

Umph is more important than just transparent and open in my book as it adds realism to the music. Just listen to how much umph you get from any instrument or vocal in real life, that is before they are amplified!

I tend to agree with both of those views (sonically speaking), as my experience backs it up. However, I prefer to use the term 'DRIVE' than 'umph', when describing what passives lack in comparison with good actives, as I feel it hints better at what might be going on. Interestingly however, LDRs don't suffer from this.

What I would say is that, having heard some superb passives, not least the 'fully Z-Foiled', solid-silver wired dual-mono design I illustrated earlier, Music Firsts, Khozmos, TVCs, not to mention the (modded) Goldpoint, NONE of them sound any more transparent or 'open' than the best actives - and if you think differently, then you probably haven't heard a *truly* superb active!

Marco.

[Marco]

I understand where you are coming from Marco because I used passive preamps for years and was captured by their 'open window' approach when used in a system however there is always a nagging doubt that you are missing something at the expense of the very clean sonics and that became apparent as soon as I popped the Croft 25R into the system. Glorious rich full sound across the frequency spectrum was restored!

Yup, a similar thing happened when I did that with mine

What was missing , essentially, was some 'life'....

Marco.

[Marco]

I won't bother... as you won't be told you are wrong on anything...

Lol - I don't have the slightest problem being told I'm technically wrong, in terms of how something functions, if applicable. Just don't try telling me what I'm hearing is wrong, because your 'science book' dictates that what I'm hearing can't happen... There is a distinct difference!

So are you saying that RCAs aren't an inferior audio connector to, say, XLRs or Cannons? That has always been my understanding, If so then, why?

I might learn something new

Marco.

[Marco]

[Ali Tait]

I think this should be the last time I say this or else I'll get a reputation for banging on about it:
A potential divider (that's what a passive preamp is) simply puts the source voltage across two (or more) resistors in series. The ratio of the two resistances determines the two voltages you will get - one voltage across one resistor, the other voltage across the other resistor. Given two equal resistors you will get two equal voltages. Given, say, a 9k resistor and a 1k resistor you will get 10% of the source voltage across one resistor and 90% of the source voltage across the other. The source's signal voltage splits across the two resistors and the signal current flows through both.
How can one resistor not be in the signal path?


Putting a signal through a transformer sometimes produces overshoot on transients, clearly seen on a square wave.

This has the effect of apparently enhancing detail on simple music but as you rightly point out can make busy music sound very confused. Overshoot is actually well-damped ringing. Poorly damped ringing is worse and looks like this:

Autoformers, not transformers are used in the Slagle.

http://www.intactaudio.com/AVC_wiring.html

[Arkless Electronics]

Autoformers, not transformers are used in the Slagle.

http://www.intactaudio.com/AVC_wiring.html

Same thing electrically in terms of the info from Andrew there goes....

The transformers used in much sought after studio gear are reputed to be the main source of colourations that results in this vintage (and modern counterpart) gear being so erm... sought after.... Applying the same colourations to everything that goes through it at all times, on replay, rather than a choice for recording a specific vocalist etc when recording it, is another matter of course....

[Bigman80]

First impressions,

When I upgraded the internal wiring to some very nice silver plated copper, this little FB unit became very good. Good detail good bass extension. If I hadn't heard the GP I wouldn't have been aware I was missing anything. Tonally, this pre amp is very accurate but didn't demonstrate that open window I got when the GP went in. The GP blew all the walls downs and left a wide open soundstage visible and audible. I wasn't sure if the tone was as accurate but holy jiggins, there was so much detail and soundscape that I didn't really mind. In went the AVC and to my delight, that soundscape remains but with true to life tone. True as in what I hear at home on the guitar is what I hear on the record. I haven't been aware of emphasis on leading edges, what I have been aware of is that it delivers the music rather than the music passing through the speaker's. I think it's clarity and drive are responsible for this "leading edge" but attack is necessary to accurately replicate the recording. Personally, the AVC feels more like an active than a passive.

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[Marco]

Jez, would you please have the courtesy to answer the question I asked you on post #183? Don't quote something I've written, and imply I'm wrong (as you did on post #176), and then when asked to explain, ignore me, as it's rather rude....

So, why are the professional connectors I mentioned not technically superior to RCAs, or are you saying that RCAs didn't become the de facto standard, due to costs and marketing? Or both?

It's not a hard question to answer, and if you're right (as this isn't a subjective thing; someone is either right or wrong) , then of course I'll accept that your answer is correct.

Marco.

[Macca]

I suspect Jez will say that as long as the connection is adequate there is nothing more to be gained. And that RCA are adequate.

Given he thinks there is no difference to be had with interconnects it is unlikely he thinks there are gains to be made in the connectors they use...

[Marco]

Well, if that's the case, then why bother engaging me like that, as it's not liable to go anywhere...

I wasn't necessarily talking about sonically; I was thinking more technically, as in if XLRs or Cannons offered a more reliable/durable connection, simply due to their physical construction.

And that still doesn't address the matter of why RCAs have become commonplace on home audio equipment, instead of the likes of the above.

I'm afraid that Jez can't just jump onto threads, imply that I'm wrong, and then when asked to explain, ignore me. If that's what's going to happen, then he should just ignore what I've written in the first place!

Marco.