I went through a number of tube and solid state preamps and ended up with a Placette passive for several years. I upgraded to the active and have been totally pleased. I'll second TeaJay's recommendation. The Placette active is the best preamp I've heard.
Given my AMP and DAC, which preamp?
I am about to receive a Dodson 218 DAC. I have a Pass X250.5 amplifier (please view my system). I essentially have a one source system (hard-drive based, digital). What I am wondering is, what preamp to get? I am wondering whether a tube pre would work well or maybe I should go with a matching Pass Labs preamp? I also can't rule out some kind of volume control like the Django. I would really like to hear from those with similar systems to my own. Thanks for your time,