Do I really need a preamp?

You will have to listen yourself my audio friend. For me a great tube preamp is an absolute must and sets the stage for the whole system and experience. A preamp is not needed in terms of getting sound out of your system, but for many, a preamp is a sound quality must.

"It depends" is the best answer because it involves a lot of
factors including personal preference. Mentioned class D amps are in big
part based on modules that have low input impedance (for many Icepower
modules it is 10k). My class D power amp has additional input stage
increasing input impedance from 10k to 40k. I use it with Benchmark DAC1
direct, with great sound. I believe that additional component in the signal
path will always cause some loss of transparency but often can change
sound to your liking (in addition to impedance matching). No right or
wrong here

Agree with Charles and Granny above (though not necessarily the 'tube' part). ;)

*Having tried few current most highly touted SOTA volume equipped DACs in my, and friends' systems, no matter their stratospheric costs, still clearly benefit from having a 'great' pre inserted in the chain.

Interesting question. I'm a reviewer for stereotimes.com and I've been looking at the recent Benchmark gear. I requested their new AHB2 amplifier for reveiw which was developed in collaboration with THX. It puts out 100Wpc @ 8ohms and 190Wpc into 4ohms and has some of the lowest noise and distortion figures I've ever encountered for an amplifier. It is small and weighs 12.5 pounds (I think) but it is an analog amplifier although it uses a sophisticated switching power supply.

I plan on comparing it to my Rogue Medusa Class-D tube hybrid and my modified Dignity Audio 300B mono amps in another system.

The AHB2 has both standard binding posts and lower noise SpeakON speaker terminals. So I requested that Benchmark send a pair of SpeakON cables so I can hear them too.

Benchmark then volunteered to send their DAC2 HGC because of its very low distortion and because they know it mates well with their AHB2 amplifier. The DAC2 HGC is a small full featured DAC and preamp that features 5 digital inputs and 2 pair of RCA analog inputs as well as 3 analog outputs and a high performance headphone amplifier with 2 volume controlled outputs. It's quite a piece.

All this Benchmark gear is currently being shipped to me and I should have it in my house by the end of the coming week (although the review will take a couple of months to be written and published). I'm very much looking forward to my evaluation of the AHB2 amplifier. It may turn into a joint review with their DAC2. We'll see.

One thing is crystal clear: for the lowest distortion and lowest noise signal path possible the combination of the Benchmark AHB2 amplifier and their DAC2 HGC DSD processor/preamp will be difficult for any other company to match.

I have found it is alot easier incorporating a passive volume control than it is to match a preamp to one's system .To say you need one to get great sound is ridiculous . Go into any recording studio and ask them what preamp are they using and the will show you a microphone preamp. Then you say no i mean the preamp . and they will look at you puzzled . A volume control is all that is needed . There are several on the pro market at all costs . Shiit Audio has one for $50 also .