Coming to this "hobby" from receivers and being on the lower tier, I need a preamp to connect all the sources I use. Turntable, T.V. and CD/DVD player. There is also a USB in for smart phone or laptop if I want. For streaming, I use a Bluesound node.
Preamp - what's the purpose?
Intentionally dumb question...
I've heard various 5-15W tube amps in my room. EL84, 300B, etc. They all have input stages and the output stage. I send them a line-level signal from a DAC.
Sitting a few meters away from my loudspeakers, the first watt alone gives me roughly 80db of volume. I think these amps are biased to expect the line level signal directly. Why wouldn't the designer do that?
So what's the point of adding a pre-amp? Why do people do it?
thanks in advance