The future of preamps

I very much like the entry level Naim Nait 5i2 integrated. It does not have an active preamp stage. But as an integrated it can certainly "control the cable". That raises the question as what the advantage is of having an active preamp stage in an integrated amp.

And, as an extension, would it be desirable to have a high end amp with its own integrated passive preamp stage? That would certainly put the need to "control the cable" in one manufacturers hand and let it happen internally. That would take the passive preamp out of the source component as people are trying to do with their DACs today and put it into the amp. That begs the question as to whether it is desirable to have the greatest synergy and the ability to "control the cable" between the source and the passive pre or between the passive pre and the amp.

No answers here. Just thinking out loud.

Did you use your Light speed preamp with the Krells? Seems like it would be a suitable match .

No Charles. The Krells were long gone before the Lightspeed.

When it comes to impedance matching, sometimes theory <> practice. ie: On paper, McIntosh C2200 is a good match but was horrible with FBP600. No bass, highs, dynamics ... just lifeless!

I did try Lightspeed with TRL Samson monos. Samson input impedance 69K, 1M ASI Liveline IC, MW Transporter so excellent match but I didn't like the sound compare to my active.

To be fair, a MP of 60's Siemens Cca or 60's Tele e88cc in my active is more expensive but overall sound quality is more important than value to me.

@ KngHiFi, Hi, Thanks, this is good to hear some success of useing tube preamps with some of the krell amps, I did have a bad exsperience once useing a tube source direct to amp, the source, as it turned out was emitting DC into the amp, thus throwing the amp into stand-by mode, I tested the source with a volt meter, yes, there the Dc was!, I am just tring to be careful here to not damage the amp in any kind of way, I also wanted you to know, I am a big fan of useing solid state amps with tube sources or preamps, I enjoy the tube magic, brings some musicality to my ears, instead of a two dimensional over resolving sound that I find strange that alot of people like, I do understand we all have our own preferances.

@ atmasphere, Hi, what is the Tube compliment to your M-1 preamplifier?, and how many?, and is the tubes in a buffer stage?, or the out-put stage?

@Audiolabyrinth, here is a link to Atma-Sphere's MP-1 webpage. You can see that he uses 6SN7's and 12AT7's by clicking on the 'Specifications' tab.