How much do I need to spend to get a preamp that sounds better than no preamp?

Whatever Ralph. I'll do and say anything I feel is right, I know this sort of thing hurts your preamp sales and I'm sorry for that, but I'm not going to step around it as you would like me to.

Cheers George

Did not read this thread but here is my 2 cents.

I am going to buy the  BENCHMARK HPA4 HEADPHONE / LINE AMPLIFIER unheard and unseen (just released). I already have the Benchmark AHB2 amp. I will buy 1 more of these amps to run in mono mode, I will use this new volume control to connect to the amps which will power KEF Blade speakers. I have been trying to figure out a way to run without a preamp and this maybe the way to achieve this without relying on a DAC with a volume control..

yyzsantabarbara
I will buy 1 more of these amps to run in mono mode

Hi yyzsantabarbara, just be aware when you bridge a stereo amp into mono, yes do do gain a lot more watts, but that’s where the advantages end, and the disadvantages start.

1: There is more distortion.
2: Lower damping factor (higher output resistance) which equates to less control in the bass.
3: Less ability to drive lower impedance’s of some speakers (maybe the Kef’s 3.2ohm in the bass.)

To me if your single Ahb2 has enough watts for you to drive the Kef Blade, which aren’t that hard to drive at 3.2ohm min at 90db and a benign -phase angle, it will probably sound better than two bridged ones. If not I would look at another amp/s without doing any bridging.

Cheers George

I'll put a vote in for the Second Edition Ambrosia preamp from SST: 

https://www.sst.audio/new-products/ambrosia-2000-second-edition

This is a new and improved version of James Bongiorno's first edition Ambrosia. James always believed in giving the customer a lot of functionality at a reasonable price. This preamp has tone controls, MC and MM phono inputs with low cut filters, tape loops, headphone jacks, many inputs, and now a home theater bypass input!
The volume control has 96 steps, 1db/step and there is a remote control with a big volume control knob. 
I've been running the Ambrosia Second Edition for a few weeks now and I am very happy with it. The preamp is very quiet. You can set a jumper in the unit to lower the gain by 14dB which helps lower your noise floor. This is good for people like myself who don't play loud. 
Check it out.