Are Preamplifier’s Relevant Today or just a Hinderance with Digital Playback ?

Hi Luis,
It’s is perfectly logical to use live music listening experiences as a template . How can someone reasonably identify the sound of instruments as authentic if you have never heard it in a live setting? If for example you had never heard a baritone saxophone in person how could judge its sound when listening to a recording of one?

This doesn’t mean you expect your system to sound exactly like the live performance. But you could decide which audio components more closely mimics live instruments/vocals relative to competing components. Your ears would allow you to recognise or distinguish what you believe "sounds more real". Based on actual live exposure.

The listening and judging process will be subjective (By default).as people hearing the same live performance will interpret and describe the experience differently. @djones51 summed it up well, essentially choose which ever approach works best for you and leads to enjoyment listening to music. Agree 100%.
Charles

Some like black coffee.  Some prefer sugar and/or cream.

Hey Ralph, by "ducks in a row" you mean electrical parameters and compatibility between digital source and amplifiers?

Yes.

You don't know what the "colorations" are. You're getting into what Floyd Toole called the circle of confusion. Take the mic, room, equipment, speakers etc.. used to record and these Recordings are as different as night and day from each other and whatever you're using to playback with.

I have recordings on LP that I recorded. I know what the live performance sounded like. I know the microphones (U67s) really well. So when I play the LP I know immediately what is going on with the system I'm hearing. It helps to have the masters!

Lacking that your point is profoundly important. It is for this reason that I recommend anyone to get good mics and a decent recording system and see if they can sort things out. Do some on location recordings. Acoustic spaces that you know are good places to see if you can do this. This will really help you sort out what works and what doesn't.

My take is that using a tube preamplifier serves digital sources very well. The amount and distribution of gain in the system does become an issue.

I've found a tube preamp with digital source and solid state amp to be most helpful.  Takes away the digititus.