Is no preamp really better that a good preamp?

Wait! Do we have George and Ralph agreeing on something? Guess that loud cracking sound noise I just heard was hell freezing over ;-).

No freezing, just that warm feeling of not having to empty your pockets on an added active preamp that not needed under these conditions, and probably going forward with the sound instead of backward in the process.

Cheers George

George,
I get what you are saying about not adding anything negative to a signal via an active preamp. But shouldn't the proof be in the listening?
I mean if the OP likes what he hears with a preamp in the chain compared to without, then couldn't he just go with what his ears prefer than with theory alone?
Cheers! J.

Of course Jon2020, and I've said exactly that, if he likes what a preamp adds (and that's a colouration) because something else is not quite right that's ok.

What erks me is when the preamp brigade use blanket statements that preamps are better than direct period, without even knowing if the user needs that colouration or not in his or her system.
And then also saying it drives the poweramp/interconnect better which in this case it cannot, as he has a perfect impedance, voltage and gain match going direct.

Cheers George

Well, it's all very simple then.
1. Start with no preamp in the chain.
2. Then add preamp.
3. If adding preamp makes the sound better, keep it.
4. If adding preamp makes the sound worse, remove it.
Preamp or no preamp brigades become superfluous very quickly here.
Cheers! J.