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

Looks like someone didn't like what I posted and got it removed, it will come back once looked at by admin, with if any modifications done to it so it's not so insensitive to their feelings.

Cheers George

Too bad your thing isn’t balanced. It really limits it’s usefulness with a Pass amp

Not really as "my thing" as you so quaintly put it, is used with many Pass amps they have rca as well, and those that don’t my customers use these http://www.cardas.com/adaptors.php as Nelson said above about rca v xlr.
" Except for noise, it gives pretty much the same performance " and that noise is only becomes a factor with very long interconnects.

Nelson also made an un-named buffer for "my thing", (with over 900 world wide I think it deserves a name) the Lightspeed Attenuator to drive one or two models of his amps that are low input impedance amps around 10years ago on diyaudio, a few years later to be sold as the commercial B1 buffer by itself to be used with other passives preamps.
https://ibb.co/choBZS

Cheers George

I don’t understand why you keep posting that.

Because it was the original balanced power supply direct coupled (matched) complimentry jfet buffer that Nelson designed for the Lightspeed.
Afterwards it became (I believe the cruder) unbalanced supply re-configured capacitor coupled p channel jfet buffer (didn’t need to be matched) for the B1
Once again go away your stalking, also calling my product "thing"? you really need to see someone.

Cheers George