dacs in preamps

I would never want digital inside a preamp. The noise problems created by digital equipment are hard enough to contain when they are in separate boxes with separate AC sources.Recently I used an AC noise sniffer on my AC. The wall was 740, my stuff got that down to 001 and 006. Btt the CD electronics, each box ADDED another 750 to the AC line. Only the fact I use a separate PS Audio P-600 only for the digital kept that stuff from the other equipment.                             
When it is built in.. no getting away from it.

it could help if you mention what you can spend and what you are looking for apart from the 'pass thru' facility in this upcoming possible new preamp.

AVM PA 8.2 is a fully modular preamp which uses boards/components that as optional items simply plug in and out as desired. google it and you will find a link to the stereophile review from a couple months back.

I heard it at a recent Audio Expo locally and was duly impressed.

its a tad pricey at $8K or so in std config. if one adds on many options. one being a tube output stage which interests me greatly. it is as well the most expensive module of the bunch too at $3400.

it doesn't take long to get near $20K or so either when adding on more cards/modules. but maybe you only need one, or none for that matter.

good luck.

PS Audio Gain Cell DAC/preamp.

Or a Benchmark DAC3...

Well, lots of people have experienced that preamps can alter the sound in a positive, or negative way, so the idea that it is just a pass through doesn't work for me.
Honestly, if that were the case, your HT processor would be just fine alone.

Maybe what you need is something like a Mytek Brooklyn? It's got modest preamp capabilities, and can be an HT pass through.