Passive input on Basic Black really quiet

[Kermit1845]

I recently got back into playing and I found a used SWR Basic Black on CL for $175. Based upon numerous positive reviews I bought and have been very pleased with the tone, but I noticed at band practice that I have to turn it up really far (3 o'clock on both master and gain) to be heard. So I decided to try the active input which should be quieter, but it was much louder. Any ideas what could cause that?

[1n3]

Clarification needed. When you say "o'clock", I assume 7 is full off, and 5 is full on. In that case, 9 o'clock would not be up really far. Or do you mean 9 on a scale of 10?

And no, the active input should not be much louder than passive. Something may be wrong on the passive side.

[Kermit1845]

Originally Posted by 1n3

Clarification needed. When you say "o'clock", I assume 7 is full off, and 5 is full on. In that case, 9 o'clock would not be up really far. Or do you mean 9 on a scale of 10?

And no, the active input should not be much louder than passive. Something may be wrong on the passive side.

You're right. I meant to say 3 o'clock with 5 being full on.

Something is clearly wrong on the passive side. I was thinking the other day that the pre-amp tube is probably original from 1994. Could that be the problem?

[1n3]

Thanks. Sorry for stating the obvious - "something may be wrong...". Have you tried cleaning the passive input jack?