I believe that the preamp is the heart of most good systems. It has been for mine for fifty years. It is the heart of the magic. Some folks have sucessfully connected digital equipment direct to amps but so far that seldom works well. This may work in the future, but getting compatible and synergistic is exceptionally difficult. If you do a survey of the literature it is really hard to do, many people that try it, give up and go back to a preamp.
You really have to be careful about this “most important” component thing. Maybe.. for components at the same level of performance or cost “the most important component” is. But even that is hard. For me, I generally put the most money into the preamp. It is the heart, and you don’t want it coloring the sound.
You really have to be careful about this “most important” component thing. Maybe.. for components at the same level of performance or cost “the most important component” is. But even that is hard. For me, I generally put the most money into the preamp. It is the heart, and you don’t want it coloring the sound.