Chances are, you have an opinion about passive line stages, though in terms of “burning questions”, this particular polarizer seems to have dimmed a bit in recent years.
The issue, at least as I can reconstruct a relevant part, is whether or not your typical, traditional, “active” preamplifier was actually doing more harm than good in your current audio system. The wavering finger, the whisper of doubt, all pointed at a potential lack of transparency, and the blame laid (at least in part) at the foot of the pre. A poorly conceived attenuator compounded by a noisy and perhaps unnecessary gains stage, and what you were left with, according to the revolutionaries, was the ultimate forever out of reach.