Are you operating in the correct SPL window for high-fidelity listening?

@roadcykler  "meaningless" ???  You seem to be unaware of the negative consequences of incorrect attenuation.

The main function of a pre-amp is to attenuate the signal being sent to the amp DOWN to reasonable listening levels. Applying the brakes. How this is accomplished can definitely have a negative impact on the sound quality. Adding gain to a low level signal increases distortion. This IS a fact.

This is why higher end pre-amps use special, expensive volume attenuators instead of simple volume pots. Even some less expensive units like Schitt are very aware of the importance of how attenuation occurs and offer volume upgrades.

I only asked for preferences, not facts. 

To refer to a "volume pot" as an "attenuator" does not necessarily per se make it better. A rose by any other name, so to speak. Yes, some analog attenuators are better than others. Upgrading the attenuator is often a very effective way of making a permanent improvement in SQ, unlike tube rolling, for example. However, I still don't know what "incorrect attenuation" is or means.

"Adding gain to a low level signal increases distortion. This IS a fact." Yes it is, but you are talking here about the converse of attenuation.

Music, mood and beverage dependent.

I play guitar and have played in and  attended enough performances, both acoustic and electric, to have a good sense of the volume level of live music of different sorts.

With serious listening to acoustic music I generally try to match the level I recall of the real thing, with the exception of orchestral music--my room isn't big enough to handle that level.  I listen to a lot of solo guitar and lute, and need to turn down the volume quite a bit for those. (It's unfortunate that even good sound engineers often amplify acoustic guitar too much at live concerts of popular acoustic guitarists.)

Fortunately, my Classé Audio DR-7 preamp has a system of discrete resistors for the volume control of each channel, so sound quality is not impaired by turning down the volume as it might be with potentiometers for volume controls.

As with orchestral music, I may not be able to match the volume level of rock music, so I just adjust it to taste.  I don't have an SPL meter, so I couldn't say what the dBs are.