I'll stick in the pro preamp camp. Although I don't think I ever went direct from CDP to amp (I've always had too many sources), I did experiment in the early 90's with passive preamps. I didn't care for them overall. They were very revealing, but they did sound thin and bass shy. I've been back on active preamps for over 8 years. I currently use 6 sources, so I need a preamp. I'm sure in the right system a CDP driving the amp straight may sound pretty good, but then how would I play my LP's?
Regards,
John
Regards,
John