Cobblers. Any active pre-amp will have higher distortion than a passive therefore by definition it cannot offer higher fidelity than a passive.
What you might prefer is a different story.
Cobblers. Any active pre-amp will have higher distortion than a passive therefore by definition it cannot offer higher fidelity than a passive.
What you might prefer is a different story.
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.
Location: East Riding of Yorkshire these days
Posts: 4,779
I'm Shaun.
Since I have gone from cheap to not so cheap I have noticed a much closer approach for both valve and solid state. I think that my current setup is closer than I thought although I doubt it is completely run in yet. Could I be imagining it..? Of course I could.
Location: East Riding of Yorkshire these days
Posts: 4,779
I'm Shaun.
Location: East Riding of Yorkshire these days
Posts: 4,779
I'm Shaun.
My experience of passives is that they just suck the life out of the sound giving a bland, lifeless experience. Is that higher fidelity..?
Well, we'll have to agree to disagree, as you'd soon find out if you borrowed my Croft, for a week, and put it in your system
I don't give a flying fuck about measured "higher distortion". That's a rather shortsighted objectivist's outlook. There's MUCH more about getting a system to play music than fretting over distortion, as you well know whenever you hear what a good turntable can do!
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!
Indeed, not. Let's make it clear, though: I'm not saying that all passives suck the life out of the music, because *in the right system* fundamentally they don't, simply that they sound a LITTLE that way ('soft'), in comparison with the best (much more expensive) actives.
That is my position on the matter, based upon considerable experience of using both. It's the reason why I've kept my modded Croft (owned now for 12 years) and no longer entertained passives, which I can assure you, I wouldn't have done otherwise, as I can afford to buy pretty much what I want.
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!
You brought fidelity into the discussion: 'Passives are a good solution, up to a point, particularly in complimentary budget systems, if finds are tight, but for ultimate high-fidelity sound, no.'
Whereas for maximum fidelity a passive cannot be bettered. Like I said, whether you prefer the sound of less fidelity is up to you. But your comment above is inaccurate unless we are changing the definition of 'high fidelity' to mean 'what I prefer.' Subjective site or not I don't think we should do that.
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.
Who says so? And I don't care about measurements, as they don't always tell the full story.
If a passive preamp is used in the wrong system, it will make music sound rather lifeless [experience bears this out], ergo that does not equate to high-fidelity, regardless of what the theory says, of passives being more 'accurate', compared with actives, in isolation, out with of when actually employed in a working hi-fi system, to reproduce MUSIC.
As you know, I also prefer valve power amps to SS varieties, for precisely the same reasons, so does that also mean my choice is based upon "preferring the sound of less fidelity", simply because SS amps measure better in terms of distortion?
You brought distortion into the discussion, not me, which is why I mentioned turntables (and vinyl), which somehow manages to sound remarkably good (often better than digital), despite high levels of distortion!
And if we're discussing distortion, then at the very end of the music reproduction chain, you've got a pair of transducers that distort the signal more than anything else further up the chain could possibly do, which makes the notion of wanking over the lowest distortion figures upstream, ultimately rather comical...!!
Quite simply, in the real (listening) world, theories and measurements are often thrown out of the window.
Therefore, contrary to your assertion, I don't "prefer the sound of less fidelity" [knowing me, as a diehard purist, I'm actually quite shocked you've even came out with that statement], far from it; I prefer the sound I consider to my ears is most lifelike - and in my experience, that's delivered by the best valve-based actives.
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!
I have given up searching for nuance that makes me sound like a pseudo scientist without the skill to back it up.
I listen, and if a component sounds better then it is better, for me. No amount of measuring can replace personal preference.
I use a range of music to determine my preference. If equipment sounds good with that music then I am going to enjoy it.
Main system: Sony TTS8000; AT1010; Audio Technica Art1; The Lentek; Cambridge 851n, Yamaha NS1000.
System 2 - SBT; Technics SH-X1000 DAC; Denon PMA-850