Sound quality impact - preamp vs power amp?

@riley804   

preamp .

what good does it do to get a good amp if you are going to put a crappy preamp ahead of it ?

And you can easily make the counterargument that a great preamp doesn't help if your amp is a total mismatch with your speakers.  If we go with the assumption that amp-speaker matching has already been optimized then I'd agree that the preamp will be a bigger gain.

@three_easy_payments

“And you can easily make the counterargument that a great preamp doesn’t help if your amp is a total mismatch with your speakers”

if the amp is a mismatch, then you already had issues. you can’t make chicken soup out of chicken crap, so best start with a good preamp and upgrade things down the line when funds are there.

In building custom audio components I have mixed input about this.  IMO unless your speakers require a specific power amp (horn speakers don't need 200wpc, as an example), then here is my overall comments:
They both offer sonic advantages - in building a Class A hybrid power amp, I thought that it was the better of the two options.  In making a few design changes to our high end tube preamp, I am not sure what I would consider having over the other.  Putting a gun to my head, I would probably at this time look for the best power amplifier since the amp works and sounds so good with other preamps we have tested it with.  Our preamp does add beauty, soundstage dimension, and clarity in direct comparison to other preamps we have compared it to with the amplifier though.

Happy Listening - you are probably more confused now!

OK, so the upshot of all this is a balanced approach.  It's counterproductive to split your funds, say, 20/80, favoring either component.  Evidently, both can have a major impact on sound.  Pre-amps can often cost a little less than power amps, particularly if the latter are expensive, so I wouldn't exceed a 40/60 split, if you're looking for a rule of thumb.

Pre-amp is the heart of your audio systems all the devices are connected to it except the Power Amp. If the Pre-amp is highly transparent the other pieces tend to fall into position better.

highly recommend the MP-1 from Atma-Sphere if you can cut it if not the fully Loaded MP-3 is superb.