Do I really need a preamp?

I have generally found that a good active, well matched preamp can provide the drive a amplifier needs to show off its capabilities, not to mention you have the ability to switch between sources.

For an exception and laughs I purchased a Lepai Class D integrated amp (can be held in the palm of your hand) rated at 100 watts per channel, it uses a passive preamp and costs just over one hundred dollars new. After 400 hours of break-in it was astonishing how good it sounded and transformed itself. I thought it compared very well to some far more expensive components I own and I'm no longer laughing.

It is then 95% possible that the Benchmark DAC2 can be all you need, bypassing the preamp all together.

Marqmike, I would think first your power amp has enough gain
for a passive preamp to work very well, this would be a very
important thing. Second you must have a very good quality
passive preamp, passive preamps like active are not all
created equal. I have had high quality amplifiers that they
could carry an inferior preamp and vice a versa. Get both
right and your in for a treat. A few years ago I owned a
McCormack DNA-1 with a revision A which had plenty of gain
for a passive preamp coupled with an upgraded McCormack
passive preamp. It sounded heavenly, there was no lack of
dynamics, it was refined and transparent as hell. I miss
that combination terribly because I never thought of looking
at another active preamp with this combination.

Mapman, then does that mean if my solid state amp has an unblanced input impedance of 47K ohms that it is not compatible with a tube preamp?