Value of a preamp?

@yoyoma26  " the reality is that any source component that can drive a power amp effectively has a preamp in it. So it depends on how good a preamp you want."

Excellent point.  If your source already has an excellent internal preamp, you might or might not benefit from a separate preamp.   When people say that they do or don't get benefits from a preamp, it would be really helpful to specify what source, amp and speakers they are using.

I'm currently using a PBD MPS-8 without a preamp, using the variable volume control and XLR cables direct to AGD Duet amps, and YG Hailey 2.2 speakers.   Sound quality is excellent, but I'm curious what effect a preamp might have.   

Paul McGowan of PS Audio has posted several YouTube videos on this subject.  You can Google those.  I was going directly from my PS Audio Directstream DAC Mk1 into my M700 monoblocks,  and thought it sounded great.  After watching his videos,  and reading various other discussions,  I  decided to try putting a preamp into the chain.  About that time,  PS Audio was coming out with their new Stellar Gold Preamp,  and I was given the opportunity to beta test one.  The improvement was remarkable! Soundstage was wider and deeper,  greater detail,  just more musical in every way!! And it's a ss preamp.  Your results may differ,  but it sure improved my system.  And BTW,  many who have tried the new Stellar Gold Preamp and compared it to the BHK Preamp (which has a tube input stage) preferred the ss Gold Preamp. 

When I added my external DAC (Gustard X26 Pro) to my Parasound P6 pre A23+ amp based system I stopped using the pre remote to control the volume as I was intrigued with checking out all of the different settings on the DAC. Based on another discussion here I set the DAC volume at 100% (so that the DAC digital volume circuit isn’t involved) and went back to just using the preamp to adjust volume and SQ improved.

I don’t mean to suggest that the Parasound pre is exceptional (I am in the process of deciding on a tube pre to audition once I replace my amp (probably with a Bryson 4b3), but offer this anecdote as to one benefit of a preamp Inhave recently observed)

@kmcong ...PS Audio was coming out with their new Stellar Gold Preamp, and I was given the opportunity to beta test one. The improvement was remarkable! Soundstage was wider and deeper, greater detail, just more musical in every way!! And it’s a ss preamp. Your results may differ, but it sure improved my system. And BTW, many who have tried the new Stellar Gold Preamp and compared it to the BHK Preamp (which has a tube input stage) preferred the ss Gold Preamp.

Did you get a look inside the Stellar Gold Preamp by chance? I followed along with the design and designer a bit on this one, and keeping an eye on it into production. There are several stages and various components going on in there, looking inside.

For those who don’t believe a good preamp (adds or removes) anything, take a look inside this one. What I first thought might be a simple preamplifier design, was a very incorrect assumption. Imo, using a DAC with a decent volume control won’t usually hang in the sound department, compared to a system with a really good active preamplifier in the mix. It seems good preamps aren’t totally dead yet.

@carlsbad2 . I concur. It shouldn't change the sound.