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Do you really need a preamp?

scoran · 2016-03-14T19:30:02+00:00

Forget for a minute all the obvious reasons for having a preamp (boosting signal strength, noise reduction, switching, etc.): is a preamp must-have sonic component for 2-channel listening? If so, why? I recently auditioned a vintage solid state Japanese Class A/AB dual mono solid state amp with "direct" and "subsonic" inputs plus gain adjustments for each channel. It sounded great listening to CDs using the direct input - like a silver-face Pioneer receiver If I only listen to CDs, why should I gum up the works with a preamp? Could I plug a turntable with no phono stage into the subsonic channel? Maybe I'm missing something?