First I think if you put a pre into your system it needs to be a good one. I put a Aesthetix's calypso pre into my system which I thought improved the music. It became more natural and full sounding more like live music. If I did lose any detail i did not notice it. Try it and see what you think. I would suggest trying some tube pre's. There is lot's of previous discussion on this topic.
Bel Canto DAC3 without preamp
I have been driving a plinius sa100mkiii with a bel canto dac3 running in the preamp mode. Is there sonic repercussions when doing this? My initial thought was if I could take out a preamp, its just another piece in the chain that is takin out and not losing the signal. Thanks