Should I eliminate my preamp?

I’m confused. As you have listened to the system both ways surely you are best placed to know the answer?   It's like asking "I have a Californian and a French red wine, both of which I have tasted before.  Which tastes better?"

I just travelled this road.  The direct from DAC was clean, extended, with great dynamics from lower mids down.  Things like Neil Young at the Cellar Door sounded live, and bombastic things like Emerson Lake and Palmer sounded bombastic.  No listening fatigue.

Then Karma stepped in.  A friend sent an email saying he was downsizing and selling his system.  Amid the pieces was his totally rebuilt Audio Research SP3.  I tried it and was amazed at the difference. Voices were illuminated and compelling. Joni shimmered.  Percussion sounded like wood and membranes instead of thuds. Performers I thought I knew sounded more three-dimensional and nuanced.  The difference in soundscape from album to album was surprising.  I was entranced by what I heard, whereas the direct link presentation was far less captivating.

But I lost "bombastic" and the lower frequencies were softened on the SP3, probably because there was insufficient room for larger caps in the rebuild, and that rebuild was done quite awhile ago.

I was so convinced that I searched for the right linestage.  I could find nothing but praise for ARC REF 3 linestage, so I'm spending a lot of money I didn't intend to.

My schooling and career was about logic, and logically the direct link should be best, and that added piece shouldn't be able to add something that wasn't there before, but this is about experience and emotions, and logic only takes you so far.

I have had the same experiences as electro slacker.  There are times when a certain preamp will add a magic to the sound that isn’t there with the DAC/source.  Just like I mentioned above, a preamp is a tool that can be used to help shape/tune the sound.

My dac digital  section is no slouch, but the last McIntosh  preamplifier brought magic to my system. Wihout it the sound was thinner, narrower..

This discussion reminds me of the time Bob Carver made his non-audiophile solid-state amplifier sound exactly like a Stereophile Class A Conrad Johnson tube amp by adding distortion.