Is Preamp overkill for me?

Check this out ---

http://www.placetteaudio.com/remote_control.htm

You might consider the Luminous Audio Axiom passive pre. At $150, it's quite inexpensive, you'll get a 30day money back, and the designer will customize it to fully drive your amp.

I second Rsbeck's suggestion of looking at Placette. If you are interested in purchasing new, Placette offers an in-system trial, so you can try it in your system, and if you don't like it, return it.

Or you can get the basic RVC (since you only have a single source) here on A-gon for pretty decent price.

I've got a Placette passive pre that I use with a Wadia 861. Very transparent, very nice.

My 2 cents worth.

Proper impedance matching and making sure there's enough current available for good dynamics seem to be the two things an active preamp is most useful for. I've used a transformer based passive for about a year, and have been very happy with it. I just got a Morrison ELAD, which is a quite inexpensive ($780), well-made active preamp with two inputs and two outputs. It has dual volume controls and a very nice separate power supply, but no other features. My early experience with it in my single-source system is insanely positive.