It looks like the "straight wire with gain" theory is being questioned

I see three points to this device that in my personal opinion give it a thumbs up.
1 It's cheap.
2 you can turn it off/bypass it.
3 People have asked for it.

I know I've read several threads over the years where a poster has asked if such a device exists. There's an extra cable or two that'll be thrown into the mix, and that could be degrading, but for the folks shopping for such a device, their system is probably not that revealing, and thus shouldn't be a problem. I say bravo.
Naturally, the user's inferior equipment will mask any bad things it does to the signal. Of course, personal preference, room interaction or a deficient recording couldn't have anything to do with it, could it?
 
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You aren't kidding.Several albums I have purchased recently,while sounding great on FM (car system or the big shop boombox) have been really disappointing on my home system. Between the studio mix and the transmitting trickery,what was good sounding before was really bad on a good quality (well,what I consider good:)) system.

It was one of those ''man,if it sounds this good in the car,I can't wait to hear it at home!!'' situations that ended in a reality check:( (and me initially wondering wtf has gone wrong with my system!?!?)

This has happened to me so many times !

Kinda makes me feel better cause now I know I'm not crazy.....:crazy: I may very well order one in the morning.
 
Didn't Julian Hirsh of Stereo Review days coin the term?
I always thought it was Sir Peter Walker, founder of Quad and fount of many quotable quotes. But who knows?

It was probably Einstein, Churchill, or Ghandi. They have by far the most famous quotations of things they never said. People just tack their names on to any BS to give it stature and credibility.
 
Not my thread. Take it up with the skipper!

FWIW I've got no gain in my preamp and no tone controls anywhere, but what anyone else does in the privacy of their listening room isn't my concern. If you like to play with your knobs, go right ahead!

Maybe I'm dense, but if there is no gain and no tone controls, what does it do?
 
I always thought it was Sir Peter Walker, founder of Quad and fount of many quotable quotes. But who knows?

It was probably Einstein, Churchill, or Ghandi. They have by far the most famous quotations of things they never said. People just tack their names on to any BS to give it stature and credibility.

I read online that the term is attributable to Stewart Hegeman, who designed HK's Citation line of components. Of course, one can read anything online.

http://audiophilereview.com/amps/a-straight-wire-with-gain.html


Maybe I'm dense, but if there is no gain and no tone controls, what does it do?

Switches between sources, attenuates for volume control. Search passive preamps with your browser.
 
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Not my thread. Take it up with the skipper!

FWIW I've got no gain in my preamp and no tone controls anywhere, but what anyone else does in the privacy of their listening room isn't my concern. If you like to play with your knobs, go right ahead!

I don't use bass/treble tone controls, or graphic equalizers (which I hate, parametric are better, imo, though I don't own or use one of them either) but I do use my amp's built-in 80hz roll-off for the new speakers with their tee-niney woofers, and add a subwoofer. So while I am no purist, I let my big brain compensate for frequency anomalies whether caused by the room, equipment or recording quality. It's gotten good at it. However, like dcmfan, I think we should all enjoy our music the way we like it.
 
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Maybe I'm dense, but if there is no gain and no tone controls, what does it do?
It could be passive (attenuator and a source selector) or it could be active (e.g., an impedance buffer -- plus attenuation and/or source selection). A buffer is (should be) "unity gain" i.e., no net gain, nor loss, in the signal chain.
 
It could be passive (attenuator and a source selector) or it could be active (e.g., an impedance buffer -- plus attenuation and/or source selection). A buffer is (should be) "unity gain" i.e., no net gain, nor loss, in the signal chain.

I know what a buffer is. So a "passive preamp" is just an input selector and a volume control?
 
I know what a buffer is. So a "passive preamp" is just an input selector and a volume control?

More or less.

FWIW, most posts seem to mention attenuation in conjunction with passive. And, in much operation (regardless if passive or active) one is attenuating the source output. However there are passive units that can have gain, such as transformer volume control.
 
I think we are divided into different groups, largely defined by what music one prefers. For me, I listen to old rock and roll most of the time where recordings vary from extremely poor to "pretty good" (Dark side of the Moon). But most do not compare
to the rock recordings of the mid 80s where the recordings improved but the music quality declined in general, at least in my opinion. In any case, I generally need tone controls to make somethings sound half way decent and sometimes an equalizer.
I agree I don't need this for Mannheim steamroller recordings, but most of the time, I am not listening to this. I am interested to hear from other rockers on this.
 
More or less.

FWIW, most posts seem to mention attenuation in conjunction with passive. And, in much operation (regardless if passive or active) one is attenuating the source output. However there are passive units that can have gain, such as transformer volume control.

I don't want to sound like an annoying little nit picker, but the terminlogy has always wondered me (as they say here in Pa. Dutch country). I have always thought of a "preamplifier" as an amplification stage before another amplifier. All amplification stages in my book are "active," so you can't passively amplify or pre-amplify anything.

But now that I think about it, I guess a "pre" amplifier can be any kind of circuit that's ahead of any amplification stage.
 
Or, no input selector at all. A box with attenuators to control gain.
Mine has one -- and transformer attenuators.

010 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

Little silver colored metal box.
Two knobs: Left is source selection (three sources), right is attenuation (different taps on the transformers).
 
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I think we are divided into different groups, largely defined by what music one prefers. For me, I listen to old rock and roll most of the time where recordings vary from extremely poor to "pretty good" (Dark side of the Moon). But most do not compare
to the rock recordings of the mid 80s where the recordings improved but the music quality declined in general, at least in my opinion. In any case, I generally need tone controls to make somethings sound half way decent and sometimes an equalizer.
I agree I don't need this for Mannheim steamroller recordings, but most of the time, I am not listening to this. I am interested to hear from other rockers on this.

I have come to like just a bit if EQ on some music and older rock is one of those. Even on Spotify there is some quality differences that an EQ can help with. When I listen to my vintage rock playlist I have the EQ on and when I listen to modern recordings like Chris Botti or Diana Krall I bypass it (even though I leave it on to have the spectrum lights on). If you like how it sounds, use it and dont care what random posters on the internet say......
26113957_1759540160732590_1260665693339555483_n.jpg

26165867_1759540084065931_3660240200002785088_n.jpg
 
I don't want to sound like an annoying little nit picker, but the terminlogy has always wondered me (as they say here in Pa. Dutch country). I have always thought of a "preamplifier" as an amplification stage before another amplifier. All amplification stages in my book are "active," so you can't passively amplify or pre-amplify anything.

But now that I think about it, I guess a "pre" amplifier can be any kind of circuit that's ahead of any amplification stage.
I don't want to sound like an annoying little nit picker, but the terminlogy has always wondered me (as they say here in Pa. Dutch country). I have always thought of a "preamplifier" as an amplification stage before another amplifier. All amplification stages in my book are "active," so you can't passively amplify or pre-amplify anything.

But now that I think about it, I guess a "pre" amplifier can be any kind of circuit that's ahead of any amplification stage.


Generally, in this context, "active" is a reference to something that uses outside help, so to speak. A battery, a power supply, etc.

As well, I think the matter of gain is independent of active or passive. However, the ability to add gain sure is more common in active devices than passive.

In the other direction from a passive TVC with gain capability, I have a Pass B-1 which is just attenuation but I certainly wouldn't call it a passive device.
 
I have a passive preamp: no gain, no active circuitry, only attenuation. I love its clarity, detail, transparency. But it's not a totally "purist" passive: it has 4 inputs and remote control. These are convenience features, not "sound altering" features. If I have to get up and rewire my "pure" one-input preamp to change from Phono to CD to Tuner etc, forget it.

But passive preamps don't do dynamics — dynamics are flattened, excitement is flattened, pleasure is cerebral, never visceral. Sure, passive may be "closer to the source", an audiophile ideal — but most recordings are pale renditions of the performance, through a glass dimly.

I have another very good, accurate preamp, active, whose sound is very close to my passive — clarity, detail, transparency. It also has — oh the horror!! — tone controls. They do what tone controls should do: boost or lower treble or bass slightly, without affecting the music in any other way. The active gain, and the tone controls, can bring a dead recording back to life.

If I were a Zen monk seeking Satori, excitement and pleasure would be anathema. All respect to Zen monks — namaste brother — but I am not a Zen monk.
 
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. . . the matter of gain is independent of active or passive. However, the ability to add gain sure is more common in active devices than passive. . . .

A passive device can't create gain, if "gain" means amplification of a signal.
 
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