Analogue only preamp ideas? - no need for internal DAC!

you don’t need a preamp if your dac has a good sounding volume control. I had a very nice newer McIntosh preamp that I sold because I hook up my dac straight to the amp and I have no need for analog sources like a reel 2 reel or tt setup. Some dacs sound better going thru a preamp so you might want to audition a couple of preamps and compare that sound against your dac connected directly to the amp

Why not buy a phono amp and run it through a volume control direct into the power amp(s)?  Less components and less wire.
If you want to listen to vinyl only a pre-amp is not contributing.  Indeed it is just adding its own signature and a little more noise.
The money you save on pre-amp and wire can go on a better front end, or whatever.

So last couple of posts are basically saying preamps may be pointless.  Maybe a Simple standalone stereo bypass device without so many preampish wires so speakers don’t need to be directly between a dac and an amp (since amp connections are used by ht system)

makes you wonder what the heck a preamp is doing to the analogue signal on its way from a dac to the amp.  Sooo mysterious!

Possibly of interest, Emergingsoul: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dAY7Bc--Ys

Thanks, watched good vid.

Paul, very smart and knows his Stuff, although he seems to always start out slow, meanders around and at the end of the journey, many a time, you don’t know where you end up. A brilliant marketeer. Keeping and prolongIng the mystery, ie. by limiting the completeness of answers to basic questions. After all, I think we all know that these products become woefully overpriced as those with cash ascend up a steep diminishing returns trail.

he didn’t focus on preamp basics in any real detail, Ie. the process of achieving sound separation, the need/processes for keeping the electrons quiet, maybe talking about how the signal is transformed in a more helpful manner, power supply interference issues, connector quality, value of installing very expensive components, etc.

still a nice vid that was helpful, but a need to learn more has not been satisfied.