Are higher end preamps worth the investment when you are only streaming Tidal & Spotify ?

Counter to most views I agree with fuzztone. Recently my US $ 5000 pre developed a hum problem so I hooked my power amp up to my Pure Audio 5 Lotus DAC using it as a preamp. The SQ was excellent - detailed. good imaging and soundstage with no SS harshness. The SQ was if anything better than with the expensive pre and dead silent. So why do I need a preamp?

PS I won't reveal the name of my preamp but it is very highly reviewed and as always said to punch above it's weight.

Your system is pretty good, all it is missing is a Qobuz or Tidal subscription.   Sooo worth the money.   $15 to $20 a month for all the music you can listen to.  

I went to the movies tonight , $32.50 for tix and ready for this...  $16 for two regular drinks.   We had dinner before so we snuck some candy in.

We had a great night , but it made me realize that things like Qobuz and Netflix really are pretty cheap entertainment.  

You really owe it to yourself to put that NAD on a music service that has great sound quality.   The Blu OS runs really good with either and you'll enjoy much better quality.  

@kota1 

The Dirac gives you the option to take a picture of FR graph which I always do but have no idea where it goes. Once I complete the project I delete it so not sure if I have those graphs saved somewhere on my Mac ? Anyway I will retest and just get a screenshot to provide.  Would love anyone’s insight on what that graph represents once I get it posted.  I’ll get a pic of my room too.  

@blisshifi

Thanks that’s cool that you had the KWA150 in monos.  The Modwright pre 36.5 pre is definitely a pre I am looking at. I am also looking at Audio Research preamplifiers such as the LS 28 and ref 5 & ref 5 SE in the used market. Does anyone have any opinions on those. Also you mentioned having a good conditioner with the high current 159 SE . What is the least expensive one I could get used before the law of diminishing returns starts kicking in? I am using a $125 furman conditioner for whatever that’s worth.  

It’s odd that you think subscribing to tidal and or Qobuz isn’t worth putting together a quality system. Not true at all.

Also, about asking Paul from PS Audio if a pre is needed, go ahead and up until Paul made a preamp, his recommendation was to use no preamp, just go from the dac to the amp(s). I used to use a $5k preamp when I had both vinyl and digital. When I got rid of all my vinyl, I compared the sq of using a preamp vs hooking up my dac to my amps. If you have a quality dac that is quiet and has the volume you are looking for, and you are only using a digital source, you don’t need a preamp. I sold my preamp and all after market cables associated with using the preamp.

1 more thing, don’t ask a dealer if you need a preamp, try it yourself and let your ears dictate if you need 1