Amp vs Preamp which is more important?

I firmly believe the preamp is the heart and soul of a system.   Everything goes through it and it drives your amp.    

I had the opportunity to own a Zesto Leto preamp.   It is a seriously good preamp.  It elevated my system's performance like no other component.   I sold it to fund a DHT preamp I am having built to match my amp.      It was a great pre, I took a huge step back using my old preamp til my new one is ready.  You really should try something of that calibre with your amp....

Both amp and preamp can be equally important - way to many scenarios to determine which one. I would think of it as "which component is holding the other one back" and go from there.

@ghdprentice   I havre  to also agree with you. I recently upgraded my Ref 6 to the 6 se. But tell me u said u would upgrade the 6SE to a 10se when it comes out ? Why not up grade the 6SE to the 10 now ? And what if for argument sake they don’t make a 10se. Or anything past the 10. Not likely but let’s say.  Would u then up the 6 se for the 10 ? 

I personally think both are just as important. I recently upgraded my ARC Ref 6 to the 6 SE. I also bought new ARC REF 750s mono blocks to replace my Krell FPB 600 amp. I think that they are both very important components not to try and skimp on. 

If you have a CD player or DAC with a volume control you can do a little test to determine the performance of your preamp. listen to the digital component through the preamp and then disconnect it and hook it up directly to your amp, being careful to start with the volume turned down low. Go back and forth a couple times. Hopefully there won't be much, if any difference in sound.

If it sounds the same without the preamp in the chain then it is doing its job. It should be neutral and transparent.