The Best Preamp is no Preamp?

Some preamps degrade the SQ over direct, some improve.

No experience as I require the switching capabilities and my pre reviews as nuetral as it gets.

this is a case where specifics drive the outcome, generalities are fun coffee table chatter, but are inconsequential

what really matters is whether the source has enough capability to drive the downstream power amp well enough, and whether the built in volume control of the source degrades the sound

many wonderful linestages add their own coloration, but improve drive and impedance match, thus compensating for the source inadequacy in that regard... most top tier pre’s pay close attention to high quality attenuation... so in the end, we pick the lesser of all evils

in the op’s specific case, he has highly resolving speakers in the 1,7i maggies, an exceptionally pure and capable source in the chord stack - sonically this combo will be very very hard for any linestage to beat, unless the op seeks a specific sonic signature to be added, the marantz receiver in the chain is definitely a major major sound degrader

1 caveat and 1 question to op

-- caveat is i have never heard the op’s emotiva amps, they certainly have the iron fist aspect to drive maggies, dunno if they also have the needed velvet glove to fully please sonically

-- question is what is op using to control volume running qutest into power amps? qutest is a fixed output dac (sorry if i missed this if already covered...)

Some preamps degrade the SQ over direct, some improve.

Some direct drive systems MAY work if all the stars align. A preamp is designed to give your amp the signal it needs and in most cases they are a better electrical match than using a passive control or your source volume control. But like I said sometimes things work without a preamp...but don't count on it.  

Technically speaking output from Dacs doesn‘t need further amplification: unless you have a weird input impedance for your power amp all that‘s required is a good attenuator. If your dac possesses a stepped relay attenuator rather than a digital bit-lossy attenuator the addition of a pre will only add distortion and the pre‘s specific voicing.

I prefer a good preamp and no power conditioner