I ended up buying the Remote Volume Control version which is just a remote controlled passive preamp with no active buffers and no switching. I am running 6 metres of Straightwire Virtuoso from my Meridian 500 Transport/Meridian 566 DAC to the Placette, and then 1 metre of Straightwire Virtuoso to my 130W tube monoblocks. In this configuration I perceive no loss of dynamics compared to top of the line preamps from Sonic Frontiers and Plinius, or compared to the Placete buffered preamp. But what I get is a dramatic reduction in fog and grit compared to the SF and Plinius, incredible transparency (even better than the Placete preamp), and great gobs of musical enjoyment from my CD collection. If you are in the market for a preamp, you must try these products. Barring some system incompatibility the Placete products match or better anything out there, and at an amazing price.

Whatever you looking for

Perhaps volume knob, however it is not a product weakness it is my personal wish

While I had deal with Placette's I was exposed to the most remarkable shopping experience I had for years. I personally testify that Mr. Hammel's product, customer services and his intention to delivery to the customer better money/sound ratio is level of magnitude more superior then whatever you could observe in the entire High End Industry.

About the passive remote control (I severely tested non-silver unit and currently use it): do not let the price to fool you. It is not sub-priced gismo. It is very serious product and it can solve very successfully very noble tasks with proper application. Something must be tried for a 2-channel reference system as well as it is an excellent add-in (tape loop) into current “reference” and remote-controlless preamplifiers.

Bravo Placette

Similar Products Used:

Lamm L1, LL2 and all the rest of them...

Incredible clarity, detail, and resolving power. NO bass weakness at all.

Remote volume is easier to use than volume control on unit.

I was lucky to find the 3-input pasive pre for a good used price. I put it in my system and it felt like NOTHING was inserted. The unit is so neutral as to be non-existent. None of the sometimes-lamented artifacts of passives were shown: rolled off highs, lack of dynamics, weak bass. This unit passes EVERYTHING right on through !

System: cheap auto turntable, Pioneer DV-414, EVS Millenium DAC, 47 Lab's Gaincard amp, Gallo Solo or Reference 3A Royal Master speakers, Sunfire Sub Jr. Analysis Plus and Luminous Audio interconnects, Analysis Plus or Goertz speaker cable. Music preferred: Folk/acoustic, world, lighter jazz, alternative. Love female vox. Recent find, thanks to Soundstage.com, is Eva Cassidy...RUN out and get "Eva By Heart," it is a masterpiece !!!

Similar Products Used:

Several integrated amps, a Krell KSP-7B some time back

Transparency close to not using a pre amp all; state of the art volume control

Awkward volume control

Over the years I have come full circle with regard to my expectations for a pre amp. I bought my first full pre amp in the late 70’s, the SAE 2100L in conjunction with the matching 2900 parametric equalizer. This combo was loaded with flashing lights, multiple phono stages, processing circuits, tape facilities and filters. Needless to say there were buttons up the ying yang. I was in hi fi heaven. And the great thing (or so I thought) was that when I turned the volume control to just 8:30 or 9:00 my system was blasting the roof off. Well, over the years I have become a devout minimalist with respect to pre amps. I have found that when it comes to pre amps less is definitely more. The Placette passive line stage eloquently personifies that thinking.

(Interestingly, I learned a tiny bit about volume controls from my experience with my SAE gear. I fortuitously pushed a button which reduced gain by 24db. This required that I turn the volume control almost all the way up to get sufficient gain. I noticed that the further clockwise I turned the volume control the better it sounded).

There are a growing number of music lovers who recognize that it is probably best to have as little electronics as possible between you and the music. The Placette demonstrates that you really do not have to give up detail or transparency (or anything else) by adding a pre amp. I found that a well designed, well matched passive pre can out perform even the most highly regarded active pre amps in the transparency department.

Since January I have owned the Placette Audio Passive Pre amp which is basically a remote volume control with inputs. I phrase it that way because it is clearly a volume control first and foremost which, with the 3 inputs constitutes a complete pre amp. It is clearly the best pre amp I have heard. Now, I have only seriously auditioned 6 or 7 pre amps; there are close to 200 manufacturers offering pre amps. So I came no where near to auditioning all the great candidates. But the ones that I did audition are generally (with good reason) highly regarded. In my system I auditioned top line pre amps from, Ayre, Audible Illusions (see my review of the Audible Illusions), and BAT. Outside of my system I auditioned pre amps from Legend, Spectral, and Boulder. The one pre amp that I did not audition that I wanted to were those from Lamm. Most of the pre amps I auditioned, as it turns out, are Class A components in the Stereophile
April (current) issue.

I would consider all of these pre amps to be good to very good.
But they don't begin to match up to the Placette with respect to transparency (or anything related to sound), at least not in my system or from what I could hear (I have not heard the Lamm). I thought buying a pre amp would be relatively easy and to my surprise I learned that they each have there own sound, especially when compared to not using a pre amp at all. I believe a Placette Passive is the next best thing is probably an audibly better alternative because of its state of the art volume control, which is easily superior to the digital volume controls found on many CD players, including many high end CD players.

I found out quiet by accident that some pre amps got in the way of "permitting" or "allowing" my amps to produce the solid low end that I know that they are capable of when
running my system without a pre amp. But they also got in the way, top to bottom, of allowing or permitting my amps (Musical Fidelity Nu Vista 300 on the top and Electron Kenetics Eagle 400 monos on the bottom) from performing the way I know they are capable. The Placette is the first pre amp that I have found that basically performs as a "silent partner"; and lets my amps and the rest of my system do their thing (for better or for worse).

Placette Audio designs circumvent foibles of conventional
volume controls. Their products (volume controls, passive
pre amp, and an active pre amp) all employ vishay S102
resistors in a *126* step attenuator. Of course, a stepped
passive analog attenuator is only as good as the resistors that
make it up. The folks at Placette Audio understand that all too well that the Achilles Hill of many (most) pre amps, including passives and CD players used in lieu of a high quality pre amp, is the volume control. This is why they employ 50 Vishay resistors is making in designing their 126 step attenuator. I'll admit that I do not know exactly how vishay resistors fit into the equation and why they are so highly regarded. You will have to talk to Guy Hammel, the designer of Placette Audio pre amps to get more information on that. Or visit the site http://www.placetteaudio.com/

But Mr. Hammel will be happy to personally answer any questions that you might have. All I know that compared to other pre amps the Placette Audio passive is head and shoulders above those I have heard.

The improved quality of the Placette passive when compared
to highly regarded active pre amps that I have auditioned
is audible top to bottom. Some dealers have told me to
expect less bass, less highs, less sound stage etc., if
I employ a passive pre. Nonsense! The opposite has occurred. My CD collection consists mainly Romantic Classical music (including many organ blasters; some which I have experienced live) as well as a growing collection of SACDs (over 20 to date) many which contain the most realistic sounding high frequency information I have heard in recorded music. I now get more extension in either extreme than I have ever experienced in my sound system.

That reminds me, many dealers, especially high end dealers (I am not talking *only* about expensive dealers, but most are very expensive), in the San Francisco Bay Area look down on the use of passive pres or worse yet going pre less altogether. But whenasked to explain why, their reasoning is generally vague at best. (I was very surprised to learn that many very experienced and respected dealer do not know *how* to employ a passive, but they are quick to turn there nose up at them). But at least one high end dealer admitted that a well designed passive which uses high quality parts installed in a well matched system, that is, used with high quality interconnects of low capacitance (Placette recommends less than 700 pico farads per channel)between the passive and the amp (with high sensitivity [almost all amps meet that definition] permits transparency that a well designed active pre amp really can't match if only because all the electronics gets in the way. And at a cost which is about 20% -30% of a "comparable" (expensive) pre amp.

Thus far no one has been able to give me a *compelling* reason why a well designed active pre can be more transparent (audibly) than a well designed, well matched, passive pre(with a top notch volume control and appropriate attention paid to proper interconnects).

As I alluded to above equipment and interconnect matching is
essential if you are to introduce a passive pre. But a good
match does not really seem difficult to accomplish these days. Most amps have an input impedance of greater than 50 K ohm and an input sensitivity of 1.5 volts are less. They are readily driven to full power by 2 Vrms CD players.

Now some amps, such as the Conrad Johnson MF 2500, which
have relatively high input sensitivity (1.9 volts) *may* not
be good candidates for a passive pre set up because you may not be able to obtain sufficient gain or loudness.

Regarding cables (interconnect cables; not speaker cables);
I recall Paul Magowan of P.S. Audio telling me years ago that (to paraphrase) in a passive set up that it is not so much the interconnect cable length than it is the capacitance of those interconnect cables. The interconnects that are important here are any that run between the passive pre and any active part of the system. In my bi amped system the interconnects to the top (satellite) amp which connects directly to one of the two pair of power outputs available on the Placette and those to my low pass crossover which connects to the other pair of power outputs. You need good quality interconnect cables which have low capacitance.

Placette Audio definitely recommends short interconnect cables for their passive pre but if you talk to the designer, Guy Hammel, he will also tell you that capacitance is the real issue here, not cable length. To avoid high frequency roll off your interconnect cables should measure less than 700 pico farads per channel. The most straight forward way to accomplish is to use short interconnects (say, 2 meters but preferably less).
But if you use a good all around interconnect, which also has low capacitance your interconnects can be longer. Actually, the interconnects I have been using are 10 year old Monster Cable Interlink 400s. These are generally regarded to have high capacitance but they sound good with the Placette with no apparent high frequency roll off. I have been told that high frequency roll off due to excessive capacitance is not gradual but comes on suddenly once capacitance reaches a certain level. So you either you have a problem or you don’t. The Monster Cable interconnects I am using are only 1 meter long and that may account for their satisfactory performance.

Nevertheless, my next step will be to audition a set of great sounding interconnects which also have very low capacitance. I ever so briefly considered some Transparent interconnects but they tip the scale with respect to measured pico farads. (Hey, I admit I was relieved that they may not have been a good candidate. At $1700 a meter pair, and I require two sets in a bi-amped system, I could not have afforded the Transparents any way). So I think I will audition some Nordost Red Dawn interconnects. I understand that they sound good and have very low capacitance (below 10 pico farads a meter!)

While I have found the Placette Audio passive to be unmatched sonically among the highly regarded pre amps I have auditioned I did find a couple imperfections. They do not adversely affect performance. In fact, they may very well contribute to its diamond-like clarity.

One shortcoming relates to its greatest asset, the 126 step attenuator and the Sony remote volume control needed to implement it. While undeniably effective the volume control system is one strange duck. Having driven Saabs in the 70’s, and currently an Alfa Romeo and an air cooled twin cylinder BMW motorcycle I can declare myself qualified to label a product a strange duck. It is not a conventional volume rotary control. Instead it uses a lever which, by design, can only be used to make general level volume adjustments. To fine tune the volume you *must* use the remote control unit, which I guess is OK, except I often would just rather do it manually. I have not found this system to be at all intuitive; so you have got to get use to it. In addition, the system employs what I found to be difficult to read LEDs instead of a numerical readout to view volume level. These LEDs are displayed in 126 combinations (I guess) for the 126 volume levels. Mr. Hammel says this system is used in the interest of clarity. And when you consider that early versions of this pre amp employed a conventional rotary style volume control (so I am told) you have to accept his word. You don’t go out of your way to develop an curiously unorthodox volume control such as this unless it is in the interest of clarity.

Another shortcoming relates to the remote control unit itself. It is a Sony universal, while comprehensive is awkward for me. But keep in mind that I have *very* rarely used a remote control even though they come with much of my audio and video gear. In this case the remote *must* be used, so it is kind of strange for me. One big bonus for me is that the Placette/Sony remote also controls the essential features of my Sony SCD-1!

Oh , one other thing, your friends may be underwhelmed by the physical presentation of the Placette Audio passive pre. A couple of my friends furrowed their eye brows in reaction to its substantial lack of curb appeal. I did not weigh it but I could probably send it Priority Mail for under 5 bucks. This represents a heresy of sorts in my system which includes a 58 pound SACD player and 110 pounds of amplification in the Musical Fidelity Nu Vista 300 (see my review), 80 pounds of amplification for my subs, etc. But remember a true passive does not require a lot of stuff inside to sound good. The fact is the Placette can go toe to toe with respect to performance with any of the heavy weights in my system. (Fortunately they all work together in musical harmony)

My Placette Audio passive pre costs $1200 with the
remote. In *my* system it clearly and audibly out performs
pre amps costing over $700 that I auditioned in *my* system.
The Placette Audio volume control (it has no
inputs) costs $1000. These appear to be sonic a
price/performance tour de force. In my opinion a
reason for the relative low cost is due to the fact
that it is sold direct; there is no dealer network. But
an absolute plus (a must as far as I'm concerned) is
that you get a 30 day home trial.

The potential rewards are *very* audible and
at a price which is substantially less than a comparable
(used loosely here) active line stage. Although a quality
passive pre (and I am really not sure how many are available)
will almost certainly cost more that a budget active line
stage.

At $1200 the Placette passive is a price performance tour de force, if there ever was one. Best I've heard.

Robert C. Lang

My system:

Nestorovic System16 speakers (satellite/sub system)
Nestorovic electronic crossover
Musical Fidelity Nu Vista 300 amp (for satellites) (see Review)
Electron Kinetics Eagle 400 monos (two for the sub pair)
Sony SCD-1 SACD/CD Player (see review)
Monster Cable Power Line 3 speaker cable
Monster Cable Interlink 4 interconnects
Placette Audio Passive Pre/Volume Control
Music Reference RM 4+ phono pre amp (see review)
Denon DP 60 turntable with Shure Type V MR

Similar Products Used:

One of a Kind

Totally Trensparent

Looks

This is a really great no loose deal. I have been an audiophile for 25 years. Love the sound of good tube amps with custom made transmission line loudspeakers. The problem I hear with most active line stages is the extra stage of gain take away from the music transparancy. The problem with most passives is the loss of dynamic drive. I thought I wid not wish to spend the five to seven thousand dollars needed to buy a really good active preamp which did not muck up the transparancy of the source signal. I had decided the better way to go was passive. Then I ran across an add for Placette Audio and decided to give it a try. I called Guy Hummel and told him I was using a Cary audio design amp. with 150K imput impedence. He told me the passive unit would be great goining into this load. I ordered one and started listining. The first 72 hours I noticed the most change. I leaft my tunner signal going into the passive all the time to accelerate the break in. All I can say is this is the most transparant and dynamic passive preamp I have ever heard. No way am I returning this baby. May be you can have your cake and eat it to. Higly recomended.

Similar Products Used:

An alps passive control, Conrad Johnson pv5