The Khozmo Passive Preamplifier - A different way to do things!

#poland #preamp #hifi

HiFi is often a compromise, but that's ok as we can choose to lean into what we value most - if you love resolution, detail, clarity and beauty, welcome to the Khozmo Passive Preamplifier!

@SmallRoomAudio

Hope you enjoy :-)

Tested with:
Luxman 595ase
Hypex Nilai DIY Stereo Amplifier
Dynaudio Heritage Special
B&W 805D4
Marten Duke 2
Luxman D10x
Atlas Superior Power Cables
Audioquest K2 Speaker Cables
High Fidelity RCA Interconnects
Zavfino Fusion MkII XLR Interconnect
Gothic Audio Nublu Silver Cryo RCA & XLR
Lessloss C-Marc XLR
KEF KC62 Subwoofer

[chrisantoniou]

I have a Khozmo passive pre amp and it's fantastic! I've never thought of passives as anything but dead accurate - that "dynamism" from active pre amps of which you speak is unnatural "glare" and "mud" - that "prettiness" and soundstage you can hear is just the music coming through unaltered! If you want that so-called impact you seem to be lacking, get a more powerful power amp, more efficient speakers, or active subwoofers.

Speaking of my own experiences with passive (and active) pre amps, I have yet to hear a better sounding active pre amp than the simplest of passives with an equivalent volume control. As always, give them a try with music you like and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

[marcochiu]

I considered the Khozmo before getting the Hattor The Big, which is another brand owned by Arek.
Quality build, open sound, dead quiet.
Choice of the stepped attenuator resistor as well as the impedance value are vital.
You wish to ensure the Zin of the downstream gear is at least 10x more then the passive preamp Zout.
Agree on sounding 'flat' vs an active preamp but the 'dynamics' might not be inheritedly recorded but boosted by the active circuitry.
A buffer could be added to the passive preamp and play around.
I tried both and prefer the unbuffered sound.
Whilst engaging the buffer gives more volume and punch, turing it off allows the sound to be more laid back, natural and open, with depth and width.

[CollectingRetro]

Nice review! I've got their Takman version attenuator on my 6SN7 pre and it's great. Also just picked up a Slagle AVC passive and it's incredible. Amazing clarity, better dynamics, and even a little gain. Awesome value for a little DIY work.

[paulomanique]

Great review. Really looking forward to the Nilai review.

[linn]

I have a Khozmo passive preamp. Love the remote, love the display (and the fact I can dim or turn off the display - I think this should be demoed when doing a review). Excellent build quality. Mine is a ladder type (5 kOhm). Sounds great. I recently added a Hattor tube line stage buffer which empowers the soundstage (that is another topic altogether). PS: I recently owned a Schiit Kara (sounded great) but kept the Khozmo passive pre mainly due to the remote, volume display and the fact I can turn the display off.

[dajikbatarang]

Excellent review. I've never tried a passive preamp. Ive tried many different active ones and boy do they make a difference in the sound presentation, would love to try a passive one.

[robh]

Being aware of the impedance of your power amp and what overall load you are presenting to the source is a factor which might effect things - Hypex is brilliant here with a very high input impedance. There are some source components that specify a 10k load as maximum and this could easily be 'exceeded'(as in less) with some passive/power combos...

[richardspector]

How cool. Still loving my Khozmo pre and my Hattor active tube stage thanks to Arek.

[looyoo-ui]

do the knobs have a finite range of motion or do they spin freely

[jackvanderwerf]

Here's a dilemma question... I run monoblock tube amps from the early 90's, serviced, and raved about in stereophile magazine at the time. I run Vandersteen 2CE Sig II's, 30th anniversary speakers, mogami speaker cables, and mogami interconnects, with some silver... in short, good solid, mid-tier system. But I never heard what they were writing about in regards to these amps, until I added a passive preamp.

I'm 64, started streaming a year ago, but it sounded somewhat thin, 2 dimensional. As a test, I recently added the little SMSL SU-1 dac, my 1st dac. It gave shape and dimensionality, does not compete with vinyl, but nothing is lost to cd. After reading about and seeing this vid, as proof of concept, I added a used Schiit Sys passive preamp. We hear the phrase, the vail has been lifted, yup!... I now hear what the reviewers were writing about my amps; it blew me away. And that little dac now sounds better than cd's when streaming. My Dad was a musician, and 3/4's of or conversations revolved around music. After his passing, I lost interest. With the passive pre added to the chain, I've got this system on all the time. (Schiit Sys output inpedance 5K Ohms, amp input inpedance over 320K Ohms)

So here's the dilemma, the upgrade question... If I could only do one of two things, the little dac hinted at what a dac can do. The little preamp gave insight as to how good the sound can be. Being ballpark similar in price, a Denafrips Aries II 12th, or a Khozmo Passive preamp. The detail, placement, depth and width of soundstage, or the effortless presentation of sound? What is the obvious upgrade to do?

[memania-]

I got one it sounds very transparent, massive upgrade over the pot on my power amp.
Isn't the power supply a bit bulky for a 5v?

[TheNaka]

Great review! I had my eye on this Khozmo beauties, so this review was very informative indeed.
Did you already review the Hypex Nilai DIY Stereo Amplifier?

[WelkySchullin]

I got the Hattor big dual mono AMRG with newclassD output stage - like it very much lots of dynamics and almost the same amount of detail as passive mode. But my 4B SST power amp is probably not a good match for the passive mode.

[yippie]

Everything alright with you and the family? Haven't seen a new video from you in 3+ months. Just taking a break or retiring this channel? Hope all is well. Happy New Year! Cheers.

[memania-]

Nice review!
Do you need mono blocks for that mono dual preamp?
Can I use it with a normal stereo power amplifier?

[alexg]

Small room audio do you buy much second hand? Now I’m learning more about hifi equipment I’m feeling more confident to. I just bought some Dynaudio contour 1.1s and they are fantastic. I feel less confident about electronics and amplifiers though

[alexrossi-ww]

Passive Preamplifier from Malaysia is so good.i have 2x

[titntin]

Thank you for this interesting review of an interesting product.
I currently take the output of my Auralic G1 directly into my power amp (Naim 250DR), but I've often wandered as to whether I'd get better results with a preamp. I don't really wish to sacrifice the convenience of Roon volume control, but I'm still curious if I could get an improvement for a modest cost.
I will upgrade to a G3 one day, and I am aware of how much effort that design goes to in order to have a great preamp output.
In the meantime, I'd love to try a few options.
Do you think there is any millage in this?

[williamcotton]

If you want more dynamics you could have ordered the Preamp with an active stage which you can switch in or out of the signal path.

[shs]

Just got a Schiit Saga S, have you compared it to this?