How to judge a preamp's sound

I’ve always been intrigued by "sound(ing) like a piece of wire." Do we have wire listeners???

If anyone questions the implication of this classic statement that goes back to gramophone days, then sorry, there is no hope, "get out of the game" another saying, just in case😉

The idea that a preamp should not have a sound is over simplifying its role.

No not really, they are a left over piece of equipment from the dinosaur days of vinyl, when there was only "millivolts" of output from cartridges,
today there are "volts"!!! all that's needed IF you have a few sources is a quality source switch box like this https://goldpt.com/sw4.html

And also back then in those vinyl days it was a long held saying as well, "the best sounding preamp should sound like a piece of wire" or "sound like no preamp"

Cheers George 

hilde45
How to judge a preamp’s sound

The ultimate preamp shouldn’t have a sound, it should sound like nothing eg. a piece of wire, like going direct from source to poweramp.

Now if you have a source that needs a bandaid fix, by coloring with some sort of distortion, then there are many preamps that can do this, but finding the right one is a big ask.

Wouldn’t it be better and far cheaper to change the source to one you like, and then go direct with it to the poweramp for the ultimate in transparency and dynamics and lowest possible distortion/coloration?.

Cheers George