Preamps waste of money?

If you have the passive control in the amp then you can make it work and it will be difficult to find a preamp that will do better.

However having the volume control in the amplifier can be really inconvenient! This is especially true if you have more than one source.

If the passive control is not inside the amplifier then its the other way 'round- you won't find a passive that can do better (meaning: more transparent, more detailed, more impact, more musical) than a good active preamp.

The caveat is that not all preamps are created equal; IMO/IME a passive can be easily better than a preamp that does not have its ducks in a row. A good preamp however will control and limit the effects of the interconnect cable- IOW if you are hearing big differences between cables then you have a problem.

The residual thinness you think you hear from S.S. preamps is the lack of coloration you get with all tube components. The thinnest, most sterile systems I've heard had no preamp.

Tmsorosk, this statement is incorrect. Tube preamps can be quite uncolored- for example our own preamps are fully differential, and that topology means that it does not generate any 2nd ordered harmonic distortion (coloration) that tubes are often accused of. OTOH, much of the thinness I hear in transistors has to do not so much with their bass response, but the fact that they make odd ordered harmonic distortion (in trace amounts), which is the thing to which the human ear is the most sensitive. Tube preamps generally lack this type of coloration.

With regards to the topic of this thread, although an inboard attenuator works quite well in a power amp, for the most part its impractical unless you have a very austere setup. Changing volume for example means getting up and doing two controls, if you have to mess with channel balance its a further pain, let alone what you do if you have more than one source. Of course, the exercise is likely good for you...

I keep the sources for my system in a place in the room where there is the least vibration (which happens to be about 5 feet from the listening chair). Its not between the speakers. So the interconnects to do the job are 30 feet long. This allows the source components to be in the best location in the room to minimize microphonics (especially noticeable at higher volume levels on most systems, with my setup, the system is impervious, unperturbed and relaxed at any volume). In addition I use custom stands and platforms to assist with that.

None of my sources can drive 30 feet of cable, but the preamp does that with ease and without coloration. I concede that Dracule1 has probably got his setup to work great with only one input, but its not something I would want in my setup at all- in my case the preamp is worth every penny and is indispensable!

I'm not sure one can ever determine if his preamp is "neutral" unless he was at the recording session and all his other components in the chain are neutral.

Bingo! I made a recording in 1986 that went to LP. It has proven invaluable to me over the years (I have the master tape) to understanding what is neutral and what is not.