Are Preamps necessary?


I love classical music, and I have a simple system: a pair of Klipsch (RF-5) floorstanders, and Yamaha components (CDP, Tuner, and Amp). What I want from my system is to be able to close my eyes and feel like I'm there at the symphony, live.

I want to know if a preamp will help me achieve my goal. When are they necessary, or beneficial?

David
bridge36
Preamps provide gain and current drive, both of which are usually necessary with most amps to get the maximum dynamics out of them and ability to control volume adequately. Some DAC's, such as the Benchmark DAC-1 have active volume controls built-in.
With a high quality preamp the sound is fuller with a bigger soundstage. Driving a power amp directly from a CDP gives you a more transparent and detailed sound, but you will sacrifice some bloom and soundstage becomes more shallow. This appears to be a consistent finding to me.
Dazzdax is right on. Even though it may add another component in the chain, the preamp does something to the sound that actually helps it. Don't ask me why, but I've found the same thing.

Rob
Have you listened to a system that blew you away? Find one
and then take it from there.