Yup, waaay back in time when they were a fairly new thing.

Surprisingly good.
A real taste of open, detailed transparency.

I've no idea what I'd think now, but I was surprised and impressed back then.

I have seen multiple fakes and sent them back, but the first one I swapped was originally in an EAR pre of some sort. It was the first time I realise that High End audio was not all it seemed!

I didnt see the original unit, but the Alps blue was given to me for a passive pre i was building. I hadn't tried a stepped attenuator before so quickly bought a Khozmo once I read of their existence.

The difference in transparency between the two was not subtle.

I have had many alps pots through here, maybe 6? and they've all been removed from genuine articles.

I have had fakes too, undoubtedly but I am confident that the original Alps Blue that I compared was real.

There is a page somewhere that has direct visual comparisons between genuine ones and fake ones. I have used it to check a fair few.

Decades ago, it was a simple matter of what you got - was the genuine thing. Less so now - depending upon where it's sourced from.

Here's something I have wondered about for some time.

There really isn't much inside a passive pre, that being the whole point of it of course.
So why are some of them so insanely expensive??



I think I am more likely to get something made from scratch to my spec ...

Yep you can spend a couple of grand on a passive today.

I like to know / see what I’m getting so am rather suspicious of sweeping statements like this I saw earlier -

‘Our beautifully custom machined aluminum chassis, knobs, stainless steel hardware reflect the quality of circuitry inside'

er, but there were no pics of what’s inside!

Yes, i absolutely have a fancy for it...its very handsome and very reasonably priced

I've seen the sloping front one...i wasn't as keen

Thank You. I don't mind admitting to being wrong.

I have it myself. I was too lazy to go and hunt it out to check. Just goes to show how one's memory isn't always as accurate as one might imagine.

Older than I thought it was.

May 1989 issue. Cover price £1.60!
Front cover splash:
How Much?!
This passive preamp costs £795. Why?


Page 53. Heading:
Cello Etude
This passive preamp costs £795. Does it raise performance to new heights, or High End-manship to new levels of absurdity?
Keith Howard.

It had a 59 position switch with a resistor network made of undisclosed resistor types. There were 4 inputs connected to a switch with gold plated contacts and a single pair of output sockets. He found it lacking in comparison to the £30 Hifi Answers 'Hot Pot', which used a pair of DNM plastic pots.

Summary:
"The specific conclusion of this review, is that the Etude cannot be recommended. More than that I care not to say about the product, it's price, and those who make and sell it. Each reader can draw his own conclusions there. But I will observe how, yet again, HFA finds cause to question the presumptions which motivate and guide the design of such expensive products. The Etude should be, as any high end product, a benchmark that though enjoyed by the few can be admired by the many. That it so obviously falls short of that measure is a cause for concern. It deals the image of high end in particular, and quality hifi in general, another blow it could well do without".



One thing I liked about HFA was the manufacturer was always given a right of reply and Mark Levinson himself replied in the 'Comeback' section of that same issue. He described the process of comparison that they carried out with lot of other passives available at the time, comparing playback of master tapes both directly into power amps and via the passive under test. They were chasing the high end pro market more than enthusiasts and were looking for accuracy.

I think Keith Howard may have been (subconsciously) pursuit of 'flavour' rather than fidelity.

I thought was expensive earlier lol