Hi Jswarncke! I use to run an AA Capitole direct into the Musician. I added a pre and the entire soundstage changed. The bottom and mid sections were more dramatic. It also pulled out detail in the upper end. The end result was that the sound was better than via direct input. IMHO it's a no brainer when you hear the difference.
Will adding a preamp dramatically change my sound?
You can link to my system below, but basically it is a Cary CD player with internal analog volume control direct to a Spectron Musician II amplifier into Totem Forest Speakers, with quality cables and power cords. Honestly I don't feel anything is lacking, but still find myself getting curious about what effect a preamp would have. Anyone have any experience going from a CD direct to amplifier, and later adding a preamplifier? To what result?