The preamp is a puzzler all right... why the heck should it make so much difference? After all, it basically just does switching and a little bit of amplification, as well as volume control. And then there's balance and... OK there's a lot to get right after all. My own preamp's manufacturer ONLY does preamps ( Klyne ). So the puzzler is which one to get, there are a whole lot to choose from and only a few are really great.
But IMHO the hardest thing to upgrade is a source component because ( as UHF pointed out to me when I asked them for help ) money spent here will not improve music through the whole rest of the system--just music played through that source. In fact a big upgrade to one source can even have negative effects : it can spoil listening to the others, as I found out when I upgraded my turntable.
And I think Zaikesman is dead right : who can audition cartridges before buying, these days?
But IMHO the hardest thing to upgrade is a source component because ( as UHF pointed out to me when I asked them for help ) money spent here will not improve music through the whole rest of the system--just music played through that source. In fact a big upgrade to one source can even have negative effects : it can spoil listening to the others, as I found out when I upgraded my turntable.
And I think Zaikesman is dead right : who can audition cartridges before buying, these days?