Value of a preamp?

The ’preamp’ is essentially a cash grabbing strategy 

Yeah, no.  That’s just ridiculous.

Do it. Get the preamp. Just make sure it’s not a crappy one as those will make things sound worse instead of improving the situation- like a good preamp should.

I've also tried direct from DAC/Streamer using LUMIN's LEEDh volume control. It was ok, but the preamp with some good NOS tubes made a big improvement over direct connection from DAC to amps. 

 So then, an active preamp is actually 'adding something'  to the signal, (whatever that something is) but a passive attenuator is not.

So when all the impedance values are matched up correctly with a passive attenuator, then a more true to the source sound is being heard.

Really then, active preamps can be like tube rolling when you actually think about it !

So when all the impedance values are matched up correctly with a passive attenuator, then a more true to the source sound is being heard.

@scm So then it becomes, when are all those pesky impedance values matched up correctly?  Impossible to know, so just use your ears.

I just knew Deep Audio was behind preamps.