CD Direct to Mono Blocks or Preamp???

The reason I'm currently running the Cal CL-15 direct is because when I first tried the Cal through my Audio Research LS3 (approx 10 yrs. ago)I remember it sounding fuller through the preamp but more detailed cd direct (at the time my speakers were Dynaudio Contour 3.3). I was thinking of getting Bryston's BP-26 (or BP6) and run my cal cl-15 into that...or going with McIntosh MCD 500 CD direct(MCD 1100 a bit rich for my blood). Any thoughts on this. (Keep in mind ...with the Bryston option ..I will have another audio boost when I ..down the road ..replace my Cal CD. which option do you feel will give the most detail?
(I appreciate your thoughts).

Audio Research isn't the best match to 7B-St since it has very high gain that you don't need. One of the best active volume controls that would give you a full sound + maximum transparency IMHO is either McCormack RLD or Wyred4Sound preamps.

Oh, Forgot to mention to suggest to go balanced from source to amp.

I like your idea of adding the Bryston preamp as it has always been my goal to match brands here whenever possible. I would highly suspect you will retain all the detail, improve tonality, add a touch of warmth, and have better imaging while keeping your current CDP.

I would think the only reason to interject a preamp between your source and the Brystons is to better match impedance mismatches. If the source can readily drive the input impedance of the Brystons to full power, then I am not sure I see the advantages. The input impedance of the power amp will be about the same as the input impedance of any pre-amp, so from the source point of view, its the same load. Perhaps with a pre-amp, the source will need to produce a lower voltage range (because of the added gain of the pre-amp), and this could give some sonic advantages.

For example, the power amp might require a voltage of 1-2 V for full power, whereas the same 1-2V could be derrived from the pre-amp with the source providing only a few hundred millivolts. If the source uses IC OPamps, then the lower the outpout voltage the better. If the source has a class A discrete output stage, this would be less of a factor.

I used to use a CA 840C to drive my power amps directly, but I used a passive attenuator for gain control. So this placed a resistor attenuator between the power amp and source, which is a compromise (impedance/load) at best. I discovered the attenuator (5K) was way to low for the OPamp output of the CA 840 to dive properly. Sound was clean and detailed, but significantly devoid of bass response.