I use a BTE passive pre and a Croft 7 amp. Sounds great to me and I have no urge to use an active. The pre in the SEG is fine but I think the passive is an improvement and I dont have to worry about blowing fuses-the order of power up/power down is critical with the SEg's pre.
Jerry
Hifi: IPL transmission line floorstanding speakers, Squeezebox Touch, Denafrips Ares 11 DAC, DCB1 Pre-amplifier, Croft Series 7 power amp.
Custom Hifi cables HA10SE headphone amplifier and Hifiman HE-400 headphones.
AV system: LG 55B7, Denon AVR -x2300w receiver, Quad 12L (front) 11c Centre and 11L rear . Velodyne DD15 subwoofer.