How much $$ do bells and whistles add to preamp?

Have a look at a canary c803 there is a nos one on eBay at the moment it is a four chassis design so true channel preamplifier. Each channel has its own power supply and each channel has its own volume control.  The volume control is a stepped resistor ladder. Is is at 7500 USD. This is at the very top end in my opinion. So that would be what I would like if I wanted tubes. 

Solid State my favorite is Ayre k1xe preamplifiers. Same thing it has  a stepped resistor ladder for a volume control. 

Now to your question minimalist design s are generally more money than ones with a bunch of extra junk on them. That being said there are some cheap minimalist design preamplifier s that only offer one feature which is low sound quality. 

Regards

If its a  $6k pre, an add in DAC probably adds around $1K to the retail price - that's very much a ballpark estimate. However, the critical point is that unless you need dac / streaming functionality, then you are better spending your money on a preamp that doesn't have those features.

It's worth taking account of your long term plans for your system. If you plan any digital upgrades, then you may end up with a separate DAC and a redundant DAC in your pre, and a less good pre than you would have had if you had forgone the inbuilt DAC in the first place.

Or….you could use the DAC - Streamer as a pre-amp…

Since the recent APEX Upgrades to the DCS line of DACS, there are a few Bartok’s out there for good prices on an amazing sounding DAC.

Or… get a used ARC Ref 6 - maybe one of the finest Pre-Amps out there and work your way up the DAC ladder over time.

Well, as you surmised. no easy answer, or is there?

My system is cd only. I have the Audio Alchemy DDP-1 + PS 5 (outboard PS) when available MSRP was $1995 + $695. The combo can be found ~ $1000-1200. After 2 years I am still very happy with it, BUT, have wondered about R2R dacs. There is ONE I read about recently, with an optional built in preamp in the $5K range. Sadly, I don't recall the model/brand. If I do, Ill update. Maybe someone will chime in. I watched it on YouTube

The Quicksilver Line Stage is built like a rock, with clean, simple, point to point wiring. It is not expensive but brings amazing value. I upgraded the caps for a few hundred dollars. It can be found used for about $1k.