Do I need pre-amp? Upgrade amp or buy pre-amp? Audionote system


Hello everyone,

I have a strange question.. Tried googling, but found a number of various answers but still not to the point where all is clear.

Currently I own Audionote P3 Silver amplifier which has integrated volume control, play music through it without any pre-amp, sounds great, no issues. I was thinking to upgrade it to a better AN amp, but upgrade would cost around the same as a good pre-amp. My question is - do I upgrade to a better amp or purchase pre-amp and use it with current amp?

AN has Meishu line, which as I understand has a built in pre-amp, so theoretically, Meishu should sound better than P3 despite being same line just because it comes with integrated pre-amp?

Thanks!
128x128execine
The volume control on your amp is a gain control for a good pre-amp match. My experience is that most amps sound better if you use a pre-amp. It is said that the pre-amp is the heart of a hi-fi system and I subscribe to that. 
This is what I read everywhere, though the question - should I spend 6-8k on an amp upgrade or same money on a pre-amp. Will spending that money on pre-amp make bigger difference?

A quality pre-amp will make a difference. If you are happy with your amp, keep it. I'm not a flea power guy and I don't know what loudspeakers you are running so I can't say if a new amp is needed.  
Speakers are Audionote AN-E SPE HE.

p.s. I only listen Tidal through streamer if that does make any difference, no LP, no CD