Passive = no voltage amplification
Quote:
Originally Posted by JNorth1178
I am embarassed to ask. What is a passive preamp? What are the other options? What kind of preamp does one want for a stereo system? JNorth1178
What Dusty said; and to expand on that further, a passive preamp doesn't increase the input voltage from the source component. The "standard" or typical 2 volt output from, say, a CD player is plenty strong enough to drive most amplifiers to quite loud listening volumes; most of the time you will only want to reduce that voltage which can be done without powered electronics. I use my current Adcom GFP-750 preamp in passive mode though it's unit that can operate in active mode too.
A rule of thumb is that for passive to be viable is that the output impedance of the preamp should less than 1/10 the input impedance of the power amp, given fairly short interconnects.