Who needs a Preamp??

I think you have to look at the evolution of the home music reproduction system to understand the Pre-amp's role.  It is the result of the need for a single point of control and access. It was about control as in signal path switching, balance and 'tone' alterations, level setting,  It also provided a cost effective and systemically benign location for an RIAA equalizer and some additional gain for it.  In those days the production of music sources and the recording technology combined with early component left a lot to be desired. The need to 'balance' the early stereo effect was present along with the need for the classic Base and Treble personalization of the listening experience - It all resided in the Pre-amp.

Times have changed a bit.

Ralph (Atma-Sphere) i got great sound with a Townshend Allegri+ with a pair of your mono's, one of the best sounds i have heard.

The Townsend is a Transformer Volume Control rather than a simple passive (potentiometer)- a bit different in principle than what has been discussed here so far.

If the output of the source is direct coupled then passive controls have a better chance of working. This is one of the reasons you see so much variation in user experiences.

Passive or Active I believe that the volume control is the componet 
that one should be evaluating .
I have noticed that many passive pre tend to use stepped resistor VC
and many active pre tend to use either Alps or Burr Brown electronic stepped VC . 

I have experienced an Active pre with an Alps VC 
and that same pre with a stepped resistor VC , Stepped won !

I am currently using a Goldpoint passive pre  .

I would love to use DAC-amp directly and save on the preamp, XLR and power cables, and save some rack space and free an outlet. But truth is that in my system adding a preamp (Wyred 4 Sound STP-SE stage 2) made a lot better sound than going direct. Specially on dynamics.

made a lot better sound than going direct. Specially on dynamics.

That is the sound of a typical "impedance mismatch" when this is said with direct or passive or even active preamp .

Audiophiles need to understand this "impedance matching" (>1:10 ratio) a lot more.
Then there will be a lot less experimenting and expensive mistakes done if they do.
If not they’re just p*****g into the wind changing things without any idea of what’s needed.

Just like a "impedance mismatch" can be had with "nearly" all tube preamps into a power amp with less than <10-20kohm input impedance.

It’s called "impedance matching"
And it goes right down the chain from source to speakers.
1: Source direct to poweramp,
2: Source to preamp,
3: Preamp to poweramp,
4: And yes even poweramp to speaker load impedance (this ones called damping factor)

Cheers George