How much do I need to spend to get a preamp that sounds better than no preamp?

Sometimes when we get too smart we sacrifice common sense. Not that I am more experienced or smarter than the posters here. 

For me, common sense tells me that ANY time you can eliminate cables, jacks, circuitry from the signal, it would be better- better as in 'more accurate'. Saves money, too. 

But sometimes, adding a preamp serves to RESTORE, what is lost between the source and the amp. Passives aren't always as transparent as they seem. 

I think it IS possible to have a preamp with a better volume control than what the Oppo does, easier on the cables, and thus, better sound. Or not. Which parts of science we wish to apply should not cloud the application of what will actually work better. 

I might ask, is the modulas 3a or 3b better than the L1? What about balanced? I missed if those are being used going direct with the Oppo. 

I missed if those are being used going direct with the Oppo.

It is one case where going direct to amp with the balanced output betters the rca because the Oppo use a balanced output dacs in the Sabre which has + and - outputs in each channel, so it's naturally better to use it's xlr output than it's re-configured xlr to rca.

Cheers George 

Re: balanced vs rca on the Oppo: certainly, I might expect it to be better, but I mention it because it's another variable. AI pre's are single ended. 

If I understand correctly, the amp is a McCormack? I don't remember those as being xlr inputs, but I could be wrong. Maybe it was an option? 

I just recently got a UDP-205, and it is going into an Audible Illusions M3a. I haven't been able to compare the rca vs balanced, I don't have the stuff. What I CAN say is, to spite having the "best dacs available" or at least the best for Oppo, the old Theta Prime 2 seems to be a batter dac. 

I mention this, because as far as "upgrading", the rca vs XLR is right there in the picture, ain't it? A balanced pre makes sense if the other components are balanced, even better yet, TRULY balanced, but it doesn't make sense to ugrade to balanced to take advantage of the Oppo's balanced outputs when a better dac could be had for less money.

The best way to me, because it uses Sabre balanced + and  - dac chip outputs, is to use the XLR output on the Oppo direct into a true XLR input poweramp. And use the Oppo’s volume control, hopefully it’s used at 75% or higher so there’s no risk of "bit stripping" This should be the ultimate in transparency and dynamics.

Cheers George

Can we really expect a simple pre amp to improve on the mastering engineers ear and gear? If so just put a bunch of your favorite preamps in series and the sound would just keep getting better!