Who needs a Preamp??

I think the most you can expect from a preamp is that it mitigates some limitation in the connected equipment and in all other ways is transparent.
Most of the time a preamp is there for the convenience of switching and having a single control to adjust the volume.
As @atmasphere pointed out an active preamp might act as a buffer and present better impedances than if the components were connected directly to one another. And I agree with @almarg in that a very good attenuator in a preamp allows you to leave all source equipment volume controls at max which will improve the sound.
If your equipment is well matched with top quality attenuators and you don't need the convenience then I don't think you'll get much out of a preamp.

Luminous Audio makes one.....

I suppose if I had to floor the accelerator to drive 55 mph, maybe I’d think the life was being sucked out of my driving. Then again, maybe I like 55. Nice and safe, good gas mileage…

atmasphere Immediately following the text George quoted above from Nelson Pass is the text above.

That is why one of Nelsons favorite preamps he says is the Aleph L, passive up till 3o’clock then turns active above that if you need the extra gain, but he says at sound a penalty of having active components in the signal path. (They are like unobatinium to find as no one gets rid of them.)

Nelson Pass
Unique to this preamp, patent pending, is a volume level control which combines the best qualities of a passive attenuator and active gain circuitry:
At the 3 o’clock volume control position, the Aleph L offers a direct path from input to output.
The only component in the signal path is wire and switch contacts.
At positions below 3 o’clock, the volume control functions as a precision passive attenuator using discrete resistor ladders.

Above 3 o’clock, active gain is added to the output signal in 2 decibel increments, for a
maximum of 10 dB.
As a result, you suffer the effects of active circuitry only when additional gain is necessary.

I know many love the Freya, I’m just doubting the unit would be an improvement over a $4000 preamp like my BHK pre. 

Now those responses were exactly what I hoped for. Thank you all for adding your thoughts to a question no doubt addressed many times before. It is a question I asked in earnest.

There are several schools of thought going on this subject.
Active, Passive or Nothing.
Some contributors seem to be trying to justify the money spent on a preamp.Not ready to admit that perhaps they have only degraded their system.

Many feel Nelson Pass walks on water. I am becoming a disciple
myself after both reading the above quote George passed on
and seeing Steven Guttenberg's interview, Part 4, in Pass's home where he said his very customized 1960's Tannoy 15 Dual concentrics reveal more about his amplifier than any other speaker he has tried.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msE14...  

I was advised to buy an Audible Illusions amp by my audio mentor Blake Hovecar. Recently I did. Retail was around $4,500. Mid-Fi I suppose. My reference point may be well below where some high brows posting here are but my mind is open to learn and this I have done, thank you all.

The whole question came to me when I sent the AI back to the factory
for a repair. I had a good 5 weeks of listening direct and though I am not 100% sure it sounded better but I am fairly certain it did not sound any worse.

Our group met with local genius Dan D'Agostino for an evening
in his new digs last April. We had an audition of his latest creation in Amplifiers. Dan made a point of telling us that if you set the volume too low on a source controlled by a preamp you will lose SQ. I believe
someone mentioned this above.

Thanks Again to All