Are Pre-Amps necessary?

chorus670 posts10-14-2021 11:41pmNever heard a pre that "Improved" the SQ compared to "No Pre".

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WEll true and not so true.
My Jadis DPL , 20+ yrs old, bought last year , now have Mundorf EVO caps and Takman Rey resistors + running Tele in the AX and AU, Tele in the cd buffer out, 
I'd say when I put in a Tele I note a   nice  nuance vs a  RCA, Bugle Boy AU  and AX in the slot.
So there must be something said for a  nuance of the pre's imput. 
But if the Shanling, Cayin or Jadis DAC, any of the 3 hada   vol pot,, I'd dump the DPL linestage.
Its really not needed and adds too much gain in the circuit for my 95db sens + 91db sens dual WBers.
Bottom line. 
Linestage/pre are not a  must have, neither a  should have.
If you find a  tube DAC /Tube player with a  vol pot, go for it and sell your linestage. 

Just looked overa  few DAC's, that I like, None have vol pot.
I have to cancel my above opinion,. Linestage are necessary as now you get more opportunities to pick which CD player/DAC you want.
So yes linestage are valid and necessary.

Thanks for all the great discussion.

The collective knowledge of this forum is fantastic. 

I tried my Bricasti M3 direct in place of a Lamm L1. The noise dropped and my perception of resolution increased. The first minute I thought the change was for the better. Percussive instruments were sharply augmented over vocals (like a bad mix) and the tone was worse. While I already know the Lamm is not the standard in transparency, it sounds better. I have read similar experiences from others. You have to solve for the preamp no matter what. It makes a huge difference.

This thread goes to show you many paths to audio satisfaction. Passives, actives, no pre, resistor based, pots, transformer coupled; seems all have their adherents.

It makes sense no pre would be most transparent, resolving, the straight wire concept. But some prefer flavoring, and bit stripping can be concern.
At one time or another I've tried all the above volume controls, I could see how one would prefer one over another. At present and highly likely long term, I'm keeping my present transformer coupled active pre. Adds flavor I prefer and virtually no loss of transparency, resolution. Also gives me added input for vinyl setup.