Lon 
		
		Seasoned Member 
		    
		 
		"Love without  guts is  worthless!"  Philip K. Dick 
		Posts: 26821
		
		  
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			Well, early in my journey I tried passive control, nothing this sophisticated, and I was not satisfied. Then I alternated between just the source into an amp with active or non-active gain control, a source with volume control into an amp, or the use of an active preamp.
  For a long time I felt a source with a preamp stage was best, but that is very component-dependent, and now I've settled on the Decware preamps again, and I think Steve's flagship, the ZTPRE, has the potential to be both the best controller of volume as well as the best tailor of the system sound. In just a few hours of use I've realized it can be both the most transparent control of volume I've had and adjustable as far as dynamics and "weight." 
  So I know there are many ways to skin a cat so to speak, and I'm invested in the active preamp path and happily so! 
		 
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 HR-1,ZBIT,ZROCK3,SEWE300B; Rega RP3 all GrooveTracer mods;PSAudio:PST+DSD, DAC Mk II,NPC,PowerBases,AC-12 pwr cbls, Reference spkrcbls; Mapleshade SamsonV3;VeraFi Audio cpts VooDoo:Cremona+Amati interconnects;Stack EQ; headphones:Sennheiser HD800S,ZMF Ori,Oppo PM1 
		 
		
		
			
	
  
		
		
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