Which has a greater influence on sound quality, the amp or the preamp?

@inna Not me, I'm very happy with my Tortuga Audio LDR Passive Preamp.

It lets me hear what`s in the recording without adding any unneeded flavoring.

Crystal clear sounding, never needs warming up either. Very easy to hear changes like rolling tubes or cables etc etc.

Also, with the numeric volume display showing 40 ( it goes up to 70), my system is playing about 85 db (too loud imo)

More people should try one and see for themselves 👍

@inna Yes, I agree most do, but that doesn`t mean much really.

Can you explain the "less refined presentation" part ?

@mbmi I get all of that using my passive (battery powered for pitch black backgrounds) with a tube phono stage and SS amps.