Do preamps have a material affect on high level sources?

Thing is, modern preamps are so clear that even several of them in series hardly is even noticeable.

I generally agree with Lizzy, but in this case I must disagree.  IME, the preamp has a HUGE effect on the sound you ultimately hear from your system.  A lot of what you hear will be based on if your DAC can properly drive your amp, but there is no doubt a preamp will absolutely have a huge impact on what you ultimately hear.  I hope Ralph at @atmasphere will chime in here to check me, but my experience with several systems tells me the preamp is crucial in the ultimate sound quality of a system. 

vjpacor
 It would seem that a preamp is merely attenuating a DAC output. How can it alter the signal?

The fabled perfect "active preamp" sound, has the "the sound of a piece of wire" and it does not exist.

Any active amplification circuit, whether it has gain, zero gain or negative gain. Will have, and add, it’s distortion to what the source originally has feeding into it, and they all sound different, there is no "perfect preamp"

If you feed your source direct into the preamp and it has a digital domain volume control, this is about as perfect as you can get, so long as you don’t "bit strip" with too low a volume setting on the digital volume.


Cheers George

George,
Your response is most consistent with the intent of my question. Thanks. But why then, isn't it common to drive a power amp with the variable analog output of a good DAC?

There are two ways to look at the question being asked, what you measure and what you hear. Different preamps DEFINITELY sound different in the same system. Whether they add coloration, distortion, or whatever else, is a matter of taste and what you like your music to ultimately sound like. The idea of daisy chaining several preamps is simply silly unless you want to show off your equipment rack.
By the way, the topic has previously been discussed ad nauseam and a quick search can/will prevent a long and pointless debate.