I reaaly like the way the LSA allows the music to pass thru it without adding much.
I use it for my CD player,and I also run my Steelhead(volume at full)thru it.
I think the quality of the volume control can alter the sound of the system,and if you don't need any extra gain,why muck things up.
I do like the way some preamps can change the sound of a system and add more depth,or tone to the music,and I miss the things that my old CJ preamp used to do,even if those tricks were perhaps the result of distortions or were phase related.
All of audio is an illusion and we never know how close or far off we are from the reality of the original performance.
So in the end, we choose what distortions we want to live with or discard.
I've lived with many fine preamps from Levinson,Blue Circle, AtmaSphere, Conrad Johnson, Audible Illusions, Spectral,Meitner,RGR,Dynaco.
There will always be a future for preamps because of the colours that they can paint.
And that's not a bad thing.